With Covid-19’s new variant Omicron widely spreading across different economies, BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine Pfizer has reportedly been claimed to provide 70% protection against hospitalization in South Africa.
Imperatively, the recent spike in cases of Omicron in the South African continent has raised a concern for medical amenities. As per credible sources, South Africa reported more than 211,000 positive coronavirus cases in November out of which 78,000 were suspected to be Omicron cases. Meanwhile, 550 Omicron sequences have been confirmed by the South African scientists with the new variant accounting for 78% of the sequences, more than the previously dominant Delta variant.
According to credible reports, South Africa raised an alarm about Omicron and its ability to create a surge in the global infections and reinstate travel restrictions. Apparently, the country’s daily tally of infections has risen to 20,000 in the past few days.
It has been speculated that the risk of reinfection is much higher as compared to the previous waves and children will anticipatedly have 20% more risk of hospitalization which was very low in the previous waves of the pandemic.
For the uninitiated, the research conducted by Discovery’s clinical research and actuarial teams, along with South Africa’s Medical Research Council, stated that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine could provide 70% protection against hospitalization and about 33% protection against the surging infections.
It has been claimed that the country has been using Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccine in its vaccination drive and has apparently administered 20 million Pfizer doses so far.
Glenda Gray, President of South Africa’s Medical Research Council stated that the country is thankful and thrilled by the results of the BioNTech vaccine Pfizer and its effect on the immunity to fight against the diseases and hospitalizations.
Source Credit- https://www.livemint.com/news/world/pfizer-covid-vaccine-cuts-omicron-hospitalisations-by-70-in-real-word-study-11639473376364.html