> Current vaccines with a booster are effective at preventing hospitalisations From the second part of the article: > Meanwhile, the latest research from Sout

> Current vaccines with a booster are effective at preventing hospitalisations From the second part of the article: > Meanwhile, the latest research from South Africa, New York City and California show that the vast majority of people hospitalised by the COVID-19 Omicron variant are unvaccinated – but that they still experienced less severe disease than those infected with Delta. Comparing the 3rd and 4th waves in SA, hospitalizations dropped by 72%, ICU admissions dropped by 89%, and deaths dropped by 90% in South Africa even though, per the article, "82% of those hospitalised during its Omicron-fueled fourth wave were unvaccinated." Similar trends are being seen everywhere so I think it's legitimate to question the magnitude of any benefit from boosters vis-a-vis the hospitalization endpoint, particularly for people who are not in high-risk groups. Are the boosters really responsible for a meaningful reduction in hospitalizations among the already vaccinated, or is the reduction in hospitalization a result of the initial 2-dose vaccine series? Even the WHO casts doubt on the boosters here[1]: > To date, the evidence indicates a minimal to modest reduction of vaccine protection against severe disease over the 6 months after the primary series. Waning of effectiveness against all clinical disease and infection is more pronounced. Antibodies aren't the end-all and be-all of immunity and protection. There's plenty of reason to believe (and some data showing) that the cell-mediated immunity from the initial 2 shots is long lasting and provides substantial protection against bad outcomes, even against omicron. What cell-mediated immunity doesn't do is prevent you from getting infected. But, clearly, given the situation in places like the US and Israel, where boosters are being given, antibodies generated by original vaccine boosters aren't doing a great job at preventing infection either. On a tangential note, I think a lot of people are concerned about long COVID but it's pretty remarkable that at this stage of the pandemic and vaccination campaign, we still don't have a clear answer as to whether vaccination even reduces long COVID risk, or by how much[2]. [1] https://www.who.int/news/item/22-12-2021-interim-statement-on-booster-doses-for-covid-19-vaccination---update-22-december-2021 https://www.who.int/news/item/22-12-2021-interim-statement-o... [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03495-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03495-2