Obesity may weaken vaccine protection in the never infectedSevere obesity may weaken the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in those who have never been infected with the coronavirus, according to a small Turkish study. Among those in the study without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection who had received the Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech vaccine, patients with severe obesity had antibody levels more than three times lower than normal-weight individuals. By comparison, in the 70 volunteers with a previous coronavirus infection, antibody levels were similar in people with and without severe obesity. In unvaccinated people, an Omicron infection provides only "limited" protection against reinfection, they reported on Friday in Nature. "The implication may be that Omicron infection alone is not sufficient for protection and vaccination should be administered even in areas with high prevalence of Omicron infection to protect against other variants."

Source: The Star May 10, 2022 17:27 UTC