A scientist from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a global collaboration has begun urgent research to understand the effectiveness of the new crona vaccine against the Omicron variant strain, and the answer may be available within a few days.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ana-Maria Henao-Restrepo, who co-led the WHO vaccine and innovative R&D blueprint, said that about 450 researchers around the world have begun to work to isolate highly mutated mutant viruses from patient specimens and perform them in the laboratory. Culture, verify its genome sequence, and establish a method to test it in plasma samples.

She said in an interview on Wednesday: “They (researchers) hope this will happen in a few days, but I don’t think we should put pressure on it to happen in three days-we should say that it will happen in the next two weeks. Realized within.”

The rapid spread of this worrying mutant virus in South Africa has raised concerns that the immune protection produced by vaccination or the previous wave of new coronaviruses is insufficient to prevent re-infection.

The WHO warned on Sunday that Omicron may exacerbate the surge in confirmed cases and cause “serious consequences”. There are signs that it makes the new coronavirus more contagious.

“This work includes testing the plasma of people who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection or have been vaccinated with different Covid vaccines to measure the concentration of antibodies required to neutralize or block the virus. The results of the study will help determine whether the existing new crona vaccine needs to be modified to protect it from Omicron.

Shane Crotty, a professor at the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Research at the La Jolla Institute for Immunization in San Diego, said: “I expect to have public data on neutralizing antibodies in less than two weeks.” The institute’s Alessandro Sette operates A laboratory is evaluating the response of T cells to Omicron.

Henao-Restrepo said that the decision to change the composition of the vaccine requires careful consideration, especially considering that the Delta variant is the main driving force of the new crown epidemic and the existing vaccine provides adequate protection. Nevertheless, some vaccine manufacturers have already begun to prepare fine-tuned versions.

She said: “We welcome this because it will help us prepare.” “WHO is contacting every vaccine manufacturer and asking them to provide information about their current plans to modify the vaccine (if they have any Preliminary data), as well as the timetable for expansion and implementation of changes.”

Henao-Restrepo said that WHO wants to play a coordinating role, as it does with seasonal influenza vaccines, to ensure that any decision to change immunization is based on recommendations from global experts, manufacturers and regulatory authorities.

Global coordination

Henao-Restrepo believes that “in the best interest of the world, it is best to adopt a coordinated approach in the decision-making process.”

Although antibody levels will drop in the months after infection or vaccination, their ability to neutralize variants of the coronavirus has been shown to increase over time. More importantly, the study found that about 6 months after the second vaccination, the third vaccination can increase the level of these antibodies, making the booster an important weapon against Omicron.

Deborah Cromer, head of the infectious disease epidemiology and policy analysis group at the Kirby Institute of the University of New South Wales, said: “I don’t think we should be excited about a particular Omicron vaccine, because so far, it’s not what we think of as a countermeasure. Its best method.” “We have seen that the wild-type vaccine (wild-type) is very good and has played a very good role.”

Jonathan Abraham, assistant professor of microbiology at the Blavatnik Institute of Harvard Medical School, said that SARS-CoV-2 may eventually accumulate enough mutations to completely evade antibody testing and ensure that a different formulation is needed for booster injections. “But at this point, there is no evidence that the virus has found a perfect solution that allows escape.”