Three more omicron cases detected in SL

Three more Sri Lankans with the Omicron COVID variant had been found, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara of the Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit, Department of Immunology Molecular and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura said yesterday.

Booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines would help protect against Omicron, he said.

The South African scientists have looked at how Omicron enters human cells and how antibodies respond to Omicron, compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and found that the new variant used the same receptor to enter into our cells.

Among the people with the 2-dose Pfizer series, neutralising antibodies had a 40 fold reduction with Omicron compared to the original virus.

“This is far higher than we’ve seen with any previous variants of concern (Delta had a 5 fold decrease; Beta had an 8 fold decrease). Previous infection, followed by vaccination or booster is likely to increase the neutralization level, and would likely confer protection from severe disease in Omicron infected,” Dr. Jeevandara said.

He added that the world would see an increase in breakthrough cases, especially among those with only two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.