Israeli Health Chief has claimed that Pfizer’s COVID-19 second jab is effective against Omicron.
Gatekeepers News reports that Israeli Health Minister, Nitzan Horowitz has claimed that people who get a booster Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine or who had their second jab within six months should still be highly protected against Omicron.
Horowitz on Tuesday said there was ‘room for optimism’ that the existing vaccines will shield against severe illness from the super-strain, based on ‘initial indications’.
Hours later, a report by Israeli news Channel 10 claimed the Pfizer jab was 90 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic infection from Omicron, only slightly less than Delta.
Also, Channel 12 claimed that the super mutant is just 30 per cent more infectious than the dominant Delta variant which is much lower than initially feared.
In further comparison, the Delta variant was seen to be 70 per cent more infectious than the Alpha strain, which it outpaced earlier this year.
This comes after two new cases of Omicron variant were identified in Israel, bringing the total to four. Meanwhile, the country closed its borders to foreigners on Sunday midnight to stem the spread of the new strain.
Horowitz said, “In the coming days we will have more accurate information about the efficacy of the vaccine against Omicron.
“But there is already room for optimism, and there are initial indications that those who are vaccinated with a vaccine still valid or with a booster, will also be protected from this variant.”
Although the Health Ministry’s spokesperson said the government does not have possession of the data published by Channel 12 yet, the comments come after the co-founder of BioNTech which developed the Pfizer jab said he was confident it would hold up against Omicron.
However, scientists around the world are trying to get their hands on samples of the variant to test it against the blood of vaccinated people in lab studies to gauge how well the jabs will work against it.
