After having studied 430 patients infected with the Omicron variant in the North China city of Tianjin, a joint research team found out that the inoculation of three inactivated COVID-19 vaccine shots can reduce the severity of infection, and shorten the recovery period. This is the first real world evaluation of protection provided by inactivated vaccines against Omicron variant.

The 430 cases in Tianjin were among the first group of people in the Chinese mainland to have contracted the Omicron variant. The joint research team, formed by scientists from Nankai University, Peking University and other institutes, found that the older the patient, the greater the risk of a severe  Omicron infection.

A total of 87.8 percent of the underage patients showed no symptoms or mild symptoms; and 35.4 percent of adults experienced mild symptoms or were silent carriers, the study found.

Among  patients infected, 341 out of 430 were inoculated with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines. The study also found out that being fully vaccinated with inactivated vaccines or having received booster shots with inactivated vaccines could relieve  symptoms and shorten the  recovery period. 

The study revealed that three months after receiving the inactivated booster, there were still remaining antibody against Omicron in the patients’s body; even the breakthrough infections can form strong humoral immunity barrier against Omicron.

The Tianjin study was the first real world research addressing protection offered by inactivated COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron, which is of great significance on experiment of neutralizing virus, and the research of antibodies, as well as medicine. 

Global Times