More Analyses are Needed to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Protection by Vaccines and Previous Infection Against the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2

Pre-vaccination seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the Volta Region, Ghana

“…Several studies have found that natural infections provide better and longer lasting protection against re-infection and severe disease than vaccine-induced protection [7 , 10] . It is, however, important to also note that, there are contrasting results and, hence, more analyses are needed to get a better and more accurate picture [11] . The message from our study is that there was some level of protection from natural infection before the introduction of the vaccines; however, this was in a relatively small proportion of individuals.…”

“…Aside from vaccination, natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 also elicit some level of protection against subsequent infection and severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death [7 , 8] . Several studies have suggested that the levels and durability of natural infection and vaccine-induced protection vary [9 , 10] ; hence, more studies are needed to shed more insights [11] . The differences in the levels of protection as well as waning could be due to several factors, such as mucosal immunity, mechanism of action, levels and types of neutralizing antibody titers, and circulating variants [12] .…”