Thread by @sailorrooscout

Just a friendly reminder. Despite what you might hear, there has yet to be a variant that isn’t susceptible to the vaccines.

Let’s stop the misinformation and look at the updated data, shall we? Yes, this includes BA.5. ⬇️🧵

Why are variants unlikely to FULLY evade vaccine-induced immunity?
•Vaccines are POLYCLONAL
•CD8+ T-cells covering 52 epitopes across the spike protein
•CD4+ T-cells covering 23 epitopes across the spike protein
•science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

I am seeing a ton of misinformation circulating so I thought it might be a good idea to make a thread on this. When you see “waning” or “evading vaccines” PLEASE KEEP IN MIND this is usually in regards to neutralizing antibodies ONLY. NOT PROTECTION AGAINST SEVERE DISEASE.

I say this is because it is important to know while updated vaccines are expected in autumn of this year (BA.4/BA.5 targeted), our current vaccines ARE indeed STILL VERY EFFECTIVE against severe disease. PEER-REVIEWED:
•nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
•thelancet.com/journals/lanre…

NEWEST PEER-REVIEWED study. Although Omicron sublineages can evade some nAb responses elicited by primary vaccine series, vaccine boosters provide SUFFICIENT protection against Omicron-induced SEVERE disease. The study evaluates MULTIPLE vaccine types.
•fcld.ly/a5ws8g1

Chise, what about the preprint out of Japan regarding BA.4/BA.5 severity? AGAIN, it turns out if you read the study and look at the antigenic data, they only show an antigenic difference when they used RODENT sera. When they tested human sera, there was NO DIFFERENCE in severity.

Those are HAMSTER MODELS. BA.2 was NOT more pathogenic in humans than other VOCs, and neither are BA.4/BA.5. These preprints aren’t a great fit for social media. Hamsters aren’t necessarily valid for modeling human disease severity, which- at this point in

the pandemic mainly will be dictated by preexisting immunity, which involves MORE THAN nAbs. Look at REAL-WORLD data out of South Africa who have found NO DIFFERENCE in risk of hospitalization or severe disease for BA.4/BA.5.
•businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle…
•nature.com/articles/s4159…

Another note on vaccines. Recent data out of UKHSA VE Report hospitalization data and community study data shows that vaccine efficacy is NO DIFFERENT for BA.2 than BA.4/BA.5 suggesting vaccines still work quite well.
•bit.ly/3AxusKM

Adding this to data from South Africa suggesting prior infection plus three doses of a vaccine series also offer significant protection against BA.4/BA.5.
•medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

you want other real-world data, look no further than New York’s current BA.5 wave. Notice something important? Not only are both rates remaining overwhelmingly low from the BA.2 wave in January, notice the red line? Yeah, that’s VACCINATED individuals.
coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-break…

When you see tweets that may have absolutely NO sources or scientific data claiming BA.5 is a “beast.” PLEASE look at the real-world data. Look at the studies. I’ll be providing links but I implore you to first please read this thread.

So, yes, while sublineages like these should be monitored by those WHOSE JOB IT IS TO DO SO, the general population shouldn’t panic, make sure you are boosted, and should for all intended purposes realize THESE ARE INDEED STILL OMICRON.

TLDR. Stay calm. Stay vigilant. Know your facts. YES, take the same precautions you have been. Make sure you are protected. COVID-19 vaccination remains THE key intervention against severe disease, hospitalization, Long COVID, AND death from ALL known SARS-COV-2 variants.