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 "Our booster vaccine regimens work against Omicron. At this point,
there is no need for a variant-specific booster," Fauci told
reporters at a White House briefing.
He said the neutralizing activity of two doses of Moderna's COVID-19
vaccine is "substantially low" against Omicron, citing data from the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of which he
is director.
"However, if you look at two weeks post the third dose, note the
substantial degree of elevation of the neutralizing title; well
within the range of neutralizing Omicron," he said of the study's
findings, on which Moderna collaborated with the NIAID.
BioNTech and Pfizer said last week that a three-shot course of their
vaccine was able to neutralize Omicron in a laboratory test, but two
doses resulted in significantly lower neutralizing antibodies.
J&J has yet to release any of its own data about how its vaccine
performs against the new coronavirus strain.
All three U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccines appear to be
significantly less protective against Omicron in laboratory testing,
but a booster dose likely restores most of the protection, according
to a study published on Tuesday.
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 There are confirmed cases of
the variant in at least 36 states, representing
about 3% of COVID-19 cases in the country, U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Director Rochelle Walensky said at the same
briefing. The Delta variant remains responsible
for the vast majority of cases, she added.
"We expect to see the proportion of Omicron cases here in the United
States continue to grow in the coming weeks. Early data suggests
that Omicron is more transmissible than Delta, with a doubling time
of about two days," Walensky said.
She said officials were starting to see COVID-19 cases increase in
fully vaccinated nursing-home residents, but residents who have had
a booster shot have an infection rate that is 10 times lower.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington and Michael Erman in
New Jersey; Additional rerpoting by Jeff Mason in Washington and
Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bernadette
Baum and Mark Heinrich)
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