The main danger of the omicron-strain of coronavirus is the large number of mutations in those parts to which antibodies produced by the human body are usually attached. This can lead to the fact that the immunity already formed against other strains will not be effective against the omicron. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University (Virginia, USA) Ancha Baranova told about this to Lente.ru.
The biologist noted that omicron-strain patients who were hospitalized in Hong Kong were already fully vaccinated. This may indicate that the immunity generated by older vaccines will not be effective against the omicron.
“It turns out that antibodies cannot reliably recognize the S-protein, which means they cannot stick around the virus and neutralize it. And this is the biggest danger, especially since we already know that people who fell ill with omicron in Hong Kong were completely vaccinated, ”Baranova said.
The B.1.1.529 coronavirus strain was identified in South Africa on November 11. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized it as dangerous and warned those already ill with COVID-19 about a possible infection with an omicron.
The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine said that the study of the efficacy of the drug against the omicron strain would take approximately three weeks, and mass production of the adapted booster dose could begin in mid-February 2022.
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