The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.Vaccines appear weak vs Omicron infection, better vs severe diseaseVaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is likely to be much lower than against earlier variants, but they may still offer substantial protection against severe disease, a new analysis suggests."Importantly, protection against severe disease is much higher" for all categories: recently vaccinated, waned, or boosted. "We estimated that protection against severe disease was 86per cent for recent mRNA vaccination against Omicron, 67per cent for waned immunity, and 91per cent following 3rd dose boosters," Kilpatrick said. "There are still no direct estimates of vaccine effectiveness for severe disease from any country yet, so our estimates cannot be compared to direct estimates yet."COVID-19 vaccines may reduce long COVID burdenCOVID-19 vaccines may contribute to a reduction in the health burden of long COVID, new findings suggest."However," Ayoubkani noted, "we can't say from this study if, or how, vaccination caused the observed changes in symptoms, and more follow-up time is needed to assess whether the improvement will be sustained in the longer term and the impact of booster doses and new variants."Good antibody levels from vaccines no guarantee of other immune defenses for someIn some patients on immunosuppressive drugs, COVID-19 vaccines may induce protective antibodies without inducing good second-line immune defenses, leaving them at risk for severe illness if they do become infected, researchers say.Vaccines reduce the severity of illness by inducing T cells in the immune system to recognize and eliminate virus-infected cells. In 303 patients on immune-suppressing therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, researchers used a new molecular measurement tool to count the numbers of antiviral T cells induced by COVID vaccines. "Overall, a substantial number of vaccinated patients - about 20per cent - had minimal antiviral T cell levels, even though most had high antiviral antibodies," said study leader Jonathan Braun of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

свернуть