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The Conversation
The Conversation
Nathan Bartlett, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle

Omicron-specific vaccines may give slightly better COVID protection – but getting boosted promptly is the best bet

Vaccine Covid-19 Omicron Disease Protein

Vaccines (predominantly mRNA vaccines) have been our front-line defence against COVID and have saved millions of lives.

Despite the emergence of genetically distinct COVID variants throughout the pandemic, we’ve relied on vaccines that target the spike protein from the virus originally detected in Wuhan, China. While still providing excellent protection, mRNA vaccines are less effective against newer variants with immunity waning within months of immunisation.

Australia’s Omicron bivalent (two-strain) COVID vaccine has been approved for use and will be rolled out as stocks of the original vaccines need replacing.

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