New COVID vaccines effective against most recent variant, as cases continue in Ohio
New research from Ohio State University shows the most recent variant of the COVID-19 virus “can be neutralized” by the latest vaccines, preventing a “widespread surge,” even as the state sees a winter rise set in.
The newest virus is a variant of omicron, according to researchers from the OSU Department of Veterinary Biosciences, led by virology professor Shan-Lu Liu, who said it’s good news that this new mutation of COVID has not been found to be as “immune-evasive” as previous variants.
Researchers studied blood tests from health care professionals who had received either three original doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, or two doses of the original and one booster shot, along with first responders who had contracted COVID-19 during a specific wave of the virus.
They then compared the antibodies in each blood sample, analyzing the ability of the antibodies to block infection from the most recent variant, compared to previous variants.
“People who have had a COVID-19 infection should remember that omicron variants are less virulent compared to prior variants such as delta, meaning they don’t make most people very sick,” Liu said in an announcement of the research, published this week in the journal “Cell.”
“If you have less severe diseases, the antibodies generated by infection are low — almost 10-fold lower than vaccine-induced antibodies. That is why you cannot rely on natural infection alone for immunity,” according to Liu.
But the research out of OSU did show impacts to the lungs that could arise from the new variant, which differs from previous COVID-19 strains.
“That raises a potential concern about whether or not this virus is more pathogenic compared to recent omicron variants,” Liu said.
The research comes months after the World Health Organization classified the variant studied in the research, and variants connected to it as “variants of interest.”
According to resources provided by UC Health, a “variant of interest” is a strain that has genetic changes that “could affect how contagious it is, how sick it makes people or how well vaccines work against it,” and also has led to “increased community spread or caused clusters in multiple countries.”
There are other, higher variant classifications: “variants of concern,” which are more contagious, cause more severe diseases and public health measures aren’t as effective, according to UC Health’s explanation, and “variants of high consequence,” which aren’t detected well by tests or don’t meet “testing targets,” have a reduced vaccine effectiveness and less effective treatments.
Omicron and its variants are considered variants of concern, according to the CDC.
The state of Ohio releases its COVID-19 data once a week now, with the most recent data released on Jan. 4. Since Jan. 1, there have been 4,571 reported cases across the state, with 58 reported hospitalizations.
As of Jan. 4, the three-week average for cases in Ohio was 15,004, and an average of 532 reported hospitalizations in the previous three weeks.
The three-week trend also saw an average of 53 deaths in the most recent state data.
Meigs County the highest average county-level cases reported between Dec. 21 and Jan. 3, with 571.9 cases per 100,000 residents. Coshocton, Pike and Gallia counties followed with 478.1 cases per 100,000 residents, 475.3 cases and 438.2 cases, respectively.
In terms of vaccinations, according to the Jan. 4 data, the percent of the Ohio population with the updated vaccine stands at 10.08 percent.
An updated vaccine from either Pfizer and Moderna was first recommended by the CDC in September 2023, and a Novavax vaccine began being recommended as well in October.
“There is no preferential recommendation for the use of any one COVID-19 vaccine over another when more than one licensed or authorized, recommended, and age-appropriate vaccine is available,” the CDC states in the vaccine information provided on its website.
As of Sept. 11, 2023, vaccines for the original COVID-19 virus, along with the “bivalent,” or vaccine for both the original virus and certain omicron variants were “no longer available for use,” according to the CDC.
Susan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow (KY) Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.