New on the bivalent BA.5 vaccine booster immune response in people
No better neutralizing antibody response to BA.5 than the original vaccine (WT)
biorxiv.org/content/10.110
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"The findings may be indicative of immunological imprinting"
Bottom line: Until more data are available, regard the bivalent booster as equivalent to a booster which augments and broadens immunity, without specific anti-BA.5 properties.
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In August, I previously expressed concern that this would be the case with the BA.5 bivalent booster
erictopol.substack.com/p/the-imminent
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Remember how vital the original boosters were to defend against Delta, Omicron, BA.2 and BA.5—reducing deaths and hospitalizations—as reviewed here.
erictopol.substack.com/p/a-booster-is
It all still applies. That's why they will help vs BQ.1.1 & the new variants with more immune evasion
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Don't forget how well Singapore just withstood its XBB wave, a variant akin to BQ.1.1 with extreme immune evasion, with high levels of vaccines and original boosters (double the US %)
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This is very good news.
The XBB variant wave in Singapore is in descent
moh.gov.sg
XBB and BQ.1.1 are 2 of the most immune evasive variants and Singapore was the first country to experience a wave induced by one of them, now letting up
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I wrote an addendum to contextualize the first human data for the BA.5 bivalent booster. The conclusion that a booster is your best shot to add protection vs new variants (BQ.1.1, in particular) stands
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I’ll just go with Novavax vaccine as a boost. Likely will broaden immune response more, rather than relying on same mRNA platform that presents antigens in essentially same way (even though target is a bit different).
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But Singapore also masks up at a massively higher rate and has a higher population that’s gotten the vaccine, correct? Did they also have any lockdowns?
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You mentioned vaccines, but forgot to mention the most important weapon they deploy 👉 masks
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Can you explain why these waves seem to peak so much more quickly in places like Singapore compared to the US? For example, in Marin County, CA the case rate for the summer Omicron wave took 3 months (until Aug 3) to get back to where you might say it started (May 1).
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Important to mention that Singapore has kept some level of epidemic prevention measures (specifically, masks 😷 are still required on public transit, health care facilities, and residential care homes). This almost certainly helps!
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