Effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine against Omicron plummets, says Thai doctor - Sinovac study awaited

[webfact]

Reuters file photo for reference only

 

A leading Thai doctor went on Facebook with bad news for those who bigged up the Pfizer vaccine in recent months over other options.

 

Many people on online forums this year said they would not have Chinese vaccines like Sinovac or Sinopharm as Pfizer or Moderna were much better. They started getting the former and were willing to wait for the latter and even pay for it.

 

(Both are now free in Thailand and widely available especially Pfizer).

 

Based on little more than selected studies and the source country where the vax is produced this has been panned by some as "Vaccine Snobbery".

 

Now along has come the fast spreading and mutant laden new variant Omicron. This is changing perceptions. 

 

Dr Chalernchai Banyaleephan - deputy chair of the senate health committee - claimed that studies coming out of South Africa and other studies by Discovery Health showed that 2 doses of Pfizer offered only 33% protection against being infected with Covid-19.

 

And those two doses only gave 70% protection against developing severe illness. 

 

The Thai media said that further studies were being awaited as regards the likelihood of Sinovac vaccine also being less effective against Omicron. 

 

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[mahtin]

How many people with omicron have developed serious illness?

[Dmaxdan]

I'm sure Pfizer are already working on tweaking their vaccine to give better protection of new the variants.

And anyway, aren't the symptoms of Omicron supposed to be milder?

[ikke1959]

The vaccines don't protect you against the virus that is known for months, but only to protect you against death or severe illness. So 2 doses Pfizer are still doing their job by protecting 70% for severe illness. 

However many Thais got a mix of Sinopharm, Sinovac or Astra with 1 Pfizer and nobody knows if 1 Pfizer is strong enough in combination with something else to protect against severe illness. In Europe eldery people are vaccinated with 2 Pfizer or Moderna and they are given now a 3rd booster. But in Thailand if you got 1 Pfizer with something else and the booster is 2nd Pfizer are you than only vaccinated with 2 Pfizers or is the booster doing its job as in Europe/??

 

[lujanit]

18 minutes ago, webfact said:

Dr Chalernchai Banyaleephan - deputy chair of the senate health committee - claimed that studies coming out of South Africa and other studies by Discovery Health showed that 2 doses of Pfizer offered only 33% protection against being infected with Covid-19

So where is the gold standard, i.e., a double blind study?  Also being infected with covid is a far cry from ending up in hospital on a ventilator or dead.

 

Another bureaucrat looking for his 15 seconds of fame.

[jollyhangmon]

... yes, well, let's see the outcome for the chinese juice then ... for now there's this one:

 

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chinese-vaccine-sinovac-biotech-among-worlds-most-used-flops-vs-omicron-study-2652187

 

(... now, that's an Indian outlet, certainly not particularly china-friendly ...) 

 

[Boomer6969]

34 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

I'm sure Pfizer are already working on tweaking their vaccine to give better protection of new the variants.

And anyway, aren't the symptoms of Omicron supposed to be milder?

They are, one of the great benefit of mRNA vaccines being that their development cycle is much shorter. But we wont get any of the modified vaccines before Q2/2022.

[4MyEgo]

Two years on and they are still beating the dead horse.

 

I mean how many of us have had Covid, not me.

 

Are we still alive, I am, and will wait for my mRNA booster in March (6 months).

 

If Covid comes as they ALL say it will, then I will deal with it then, not much more one can do than that, so enough beating of the dead horse please.

 

[cyril sneer]

Jumping at the chance to say anything negative about Pfizer

 

Would this article exist if the Chinese vaccines were never invented?

[John Drake]

No doubt that Pfizer was hyped and people in Thailand wanted the brand name. Pfizer, the Gucci purse of vaccines.

[Zozod]

Chinese vaccine.  555.  It reminds me of a firefighter who likes to set fires.  

[vandeventer]

4 hours ago, mahtin said:

How many people with omicron have developed serious illness?

How many have died? The governments don't seem to release this info. It's in 89 countries so the death rate is still 1 ???

[placnx]

3 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

They are, one of the great benefit of mRNA vaccines being that their development cycle is much shorter. But we wont get any of the modified vaccines before Q2/2022.

The sad thing is that US and others had plenty of time to create production facilities for mRNA vaccine beyond what Pfizer and Moderna find rational from a business viewpoint. If the governments had done this, the world could have enough vaccine for boosters and give initial updated jabs for the unvaccinated as well. It's the only way to have a chance of ending this pandemic.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Now along has come the fast spreading and mutant laden new variant Omicron. This is changing perceptions

Get double vaxxed, have a booster and keep safe... 

[ourmanflint]

2 AZ and Pfizer booster gives 70% protection. Good enough for me

[sandyf]

21 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

How many have died? The governments don't seem to release this info. It's in 89 countries so the death rate is still 1 ???

The scientific advisors may well have it wrong, but if they haven't, who will carry the can?

Obviously the 600 - 6,000 a day.

 

The government’s SPI-M-O group of scientists, which reports to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), also warned that, based on their modelling, hospitalisations could peak between 3,000 and 10,000 a day and deaths at between 600 and 6,000 a day.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/18/uk-scientists-curbs-covid-infections-omicron-deaths-restrictions-sage

[thaivisareader]

narrative slowly changing. Now it's "get fully vaxxed/you'll prolly get covid regardless (because the vaccs are experimental- nobody  really knows how effective they are or will be)/but, if you survive, you'll have 'super immunity!' Stand by for future developments.

Edited December 20, 2021 by thaivisareader

[John Drake]

Originally vaccinated with two shots in June. Got my third shot on 30 September. Going to need this every three or four months? Every other month? Or go through the entire thing again when they retool for every new variation? I do not want to spend the rest of my life organizing everything around the next round of Covid shots. The world will be in lockdown for ever. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by John Drake

[Tarteso]

18 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Get double vaxxed, have a booster and keep safe... 

…And stop to reading the “deleted”opinion of any Thai Doctor

[Paradise Pete]

5 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

I'm sure Pfizer are already working on tweaking their vaccine to give better protection of new the variants.

And anyway, aren't the symptoms of Omicron supposed to be milder?

Omicron is so contagious that by the time a tweaked vaccine would be widely available it's likely that it will have already ripped through the population.

It's too early to know if Omicron results in milder illness. That's the hope, and it's still possible, but there hasn't yet been enough time nor widespread exposure across all segments of the population.

 

[WEBBYB808]

5 hours ago, mahtin said:

How many people with omicron have developed serious illness?

There has been some, and the numbers are growing.  It's still very early, also its not the living and dying thats the only issue.  When people get sick from it, be it"mild" or not they fill hospital beds, and that could hinder other emergencies.   People are still dying and from the virus and other things, it's still mutating, and it's not beaten yet.  Opening countries up, which many are closing again, is possibly  still to early for saving lives!

[placnx]

34 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Originally vaccinated with two shots in June. Got my third shot on 30 September. Going to need this every three or four months? Every other month? Or go through the entire thing again when they retool for every new variation? I do not want to spend the rest of my life organizing everything around the next round of Covid shots. The world will be in lockdown for ever. 

I posted this on another thread:

The sad thing is that US and others had plenty of time to create production facilities for mRNA vaccine beyond what Pfizer and Moderna find rational from a business viewpoint. If the governments had done this, the world could have enough vaccine for boosters and give initial updated jabs for the unvaccinated as well. It's the only way to have a chance of ending this pandemic.

[Golden Triangle]

9 minutes ago, placnx said:

I posted this on another thread:

The sad thing is that US and others had plenty of time to create production facilities for mRNA vaccine beyond what Pfizer and Moderna find rational from a business viewpoint. If the governments had done this, the world could have enough vaccine for boosters and give initial updated jabs for the unvaccinated as well. It's the only way to have a chance of ending this pandemic.

But, as far as I am aware, you just can't go around willy nilly and produce vaccines without the explicit go ahead from the patent holder of the vaccine, so if Pfizer & Moderna have not given said permission it's a no go.

[ThLT]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Based on little more than selected studies and the source country where the vax is produced this has been panned by some as "Vaccine Snobbery".

Sinovac was ineffective against Delta.

Pfizer was over 90% effective against Delta.

 

Now we are talking about Omicron.

 

Pfizer is less effective against Omicron.

No data on Sinovac.

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai media said that further studies were being awaited as regards the likelihood of Sinovac vaccine also being less effective against Omicron. 

Yes, let's wait for that first.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by ThLT

[ThLT]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

showed that 2 doses of Pfizer offered only 33% protection against being infected with Covid-19.

 

And those two doses only gave 70% protection against developing severe illness. 

That's pretty solid protection.

 

Considering barely anyone has died from Omicron (with some unvaccinated). Unless you are 50+ years old or have health issues, 70% is basically complete protection against Omicron.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by ThLT

[Almer]

What trial has been done doctor,  and can you supply the findings ,peer reviewed or not will be fine.

[Almer]

Can we have a finding from Comornity/Pfiser on the effectiveness against   the Omicron strain please, then we can compare the good doctors findings.

[ThaiFelix]

5 hours ago, Zozod said:

Chinese vaccine.  555.  It reminds me of a firefighter who likes to set fires.  

I think the biggest laugh is on those who ignorantly accuse the firefighter without the slightest shred of evidence ....LMAO!

[ozimoron]

3 hours ago, vandeventer said:

How many have died? The governments don't seem to release this info. It's in 89 countries so the death rate is still 1 ???

Do some research,

 

UK reports 10,000 jump in Omicron cases, deaths rise to 7

 

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/uk-reports-10-000-jump-in-omicron-cases-deaths-rise-to-7-121121800790_1.html

 

 

[rwill]

I posted this in another thread.  But there seems to be good news if you do have a breakthrough infection.

 

Breakthrough Infections May Lead to 'Super Immunity' From COVID: Study (msn.com)