Sinopharm's protein-based booster is more effective against Omicron: Research

BEIJING: A study found that when a protein-based COVID-19 vaccination was administered as a booster after two doses of an earlier shot from Sinopharm, it elicited a better antibody response against the Omicron variant than a third dosage of the original.

Concerns over the efficiency of Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV shot, one of the two primary COVID-19 vaccines marketed by China, against the Omicron variant prompted the study, which was released recently but was not peer-reviewed. 

Sinopharm's NVSI-06-07 protein-based vaccine, approved in December for emergency use as a booster in the United Arab Emirates, uses a different technology from the BBIBP-CorV injection, which uses an inactivated form of the COVID-19.

Researchers found that among 192 healthy persons who had two BBIBP-CorV doses for six months or longer, those who later received an NVSI-06-07 booster had a "significantly greater" neutralising antibody level against Omicron than those who got a BBIBP-CorV third dose.