The co-founder of the laboratory at the origin of the Cominarty vaccine returns, in an interview to the “World”, on the efficacy data of Vaccines against the CVIV-19 against the new variant of the SAR-COV-2.
by and
The progression of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus around the world poses many questions to scientists. Its transmission, its virulence remain to be determined precisely. But the most thorny interrogation focuses on its ability to escape Vaccines against CVIV-19. On the occasion of a meeting with Le Monde, Ugur Sahin, the Biontech CEO, the German company at the origin of the RNA messenger vaccine produced with Pfizer, remains confident.
According to him, “the real life data of Great Britain and South Africa provide us with reassuring information”. Last week, Discovery Health, the first South African private medical insurance organization, and Public Health England delivered their analyzes of the first contaminations by Omicron. “The first and preliminary data from the United Kingdom pointed to about 70% after the third dose and about 20% to 40% after the second dose,” he says. A New study of The Imperial College London , published after the interview, even gets off this last figure under 20%. Ugur Sahin continues: “South Africans make similar observations. Their data also show that protection against severe forms after two doses would be 70%, which, I think, could be a little underestimated. The rate of Pre-infection is raised in South Africa, so the control group, the one we compare our vaccine, is probably better protected than a classical population. I am waiting for the next actual British lives on the subject. “
Loss of efficiency
But how long will this relative protection last? A German team has recently reported a very rapid decline in efficiency, even after three doses. After three months, it fell to 25%. “There will be a loss of efficiency against Omicron over time, it is very likely, but it is still necessary to measure the speed. I will not found forecasts on preliminary laboratory data but on real-life data. , which are much more appropriate, says Ugur Sahin. We have to look at the situation in a differentiated way. It is obvious that we are far from the 95% effectiveness we have achieved against the initial virus. However, after the third injection , our vaccine seems to provide 70% or 75% protection against any type of disease, which remains a good result for a vaccine in general and I think we will be largely beyond for severe forms. “
You have 53.85% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.