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Joe Phaahla - COVID-19 Omicron sub-variants dodge immunity from past infection, South African study finds - fox29.com - South Africa - city Johannesburg
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COVID-19 Omicron sub-variants dodge immunity from past infection, South African study finds
JOHANNESBURG - Researchers in South Africa have found two new Omicron sub-variants that were able to evade antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations, Reuters reported on May 1. According to a study, led by the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa, researchers found that blood samples from vaccinated individuals showed their antibody production dropped eight times when tested against the two Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, according to Reuters."The vaccinated group showed about a 5-fold higher neutralization capacity ... and should be better protected," said the study, a pre-print of which was obtained by Reuters. The new findings follow a warning from South Africa’s health minister who said last week the country has already likely entered a new wave of COVID-19 earlier than expected following a recent rise in hospitalizations and infections. The increase in new cases has been dominated by the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant which dominated the country’s earlier wave of the virus."Whichever way you look at it, it does suggest that we may actually be entering the fifth wave much earlier," Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Friday at a televised press briefing.He said officials will be watching carefully over the next few days to determine if the increase is sustained which would confirm a new wave.A health worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine to a student during a rural vaccination drive by Broadreach NGO at Duduzile Secondary School in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
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