AstraZeneca and Novavax both say their vaccines protect against Omicron variant

News of vaccine effectiveness comes as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the globe

Pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax have both announced that their Covid-19 vaccines provide protection against the new Omicron variant.

AstraZeneca said in a statement on Thursday that an Oxford University study found that three doses of its vaccine – the initial two-dose vaccine followed by a booster shot – are effective against the variant.

The three doses gave patients a similar antibody level against Omicron as two doses of the vaccine did against the Delta variant, they said..

“Neutralising antibody levels against Omicron following a third dose boost of Vaxzevria were broadly similar to levels achieved after two doses against the Delta variant,” the company said in a statement.

People who received three doses of the vaccine were also found to produce higher neutralizing antibodies against the variant than people who were previously infected with and recovered from other strains of Covid-19.

The announcement came just hours after Novavax said preliminary data shows its new vaccine is also effective against the Omicron variant.

The company said its vaccine provides “broad cross-reactivity” against Omicron and other variants from two doses, with protection increasing 36-fold with a third booster shot given six months after the second.

The Novavax vaccine was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization and the EU this month and the US, the UK and Europe have ordered millions of doses each. In the US, 110 million doses have been ordered.

Both drugmakers are also working on vaccines to specifically target the Omicron variant.

Novavax said it expects clinical studies of its Omicron-specific vaccine to begin in the first quarter of 2022.

News that the vaccines are effective against Omicron comes as the variant continues to spread rapidly in the run-up to the holidays.

In the US, Omicron has quickly overtaken Delta as the more dominant variant, now making up 73 per cent of all new cases.

Despite the rise in cases, President Joe Biden assured vaccinated Americans on Tuesday that they can safely celebrate the holidays with their loved ones and urged the unvaccinated to get the shot.