A booster dose of COVID vaccine may not confer the same level of protection against the new hypermutated Omicron variant as it did for Delta, claimed a researcher from the University of Bern on 13 December.

For our comprehensive coverage and latest updates on COVID-19 click here

Several studies from the US, UK and Israel have shown that two doses of COVID vaccination are not enough and a booster dose is imperative to tackle Omicron. The protection is "maybe more around 70 per cent" against Omicron, compared to 90 per cent against Delta", Dr. Emma Hodcroft, an epidemiologist at the varsity was quoted as saying to BBC Radio.

"This is particularly important if you're someone who is vulnerable or elderly because it is good to know you may not have complete protection," she said. Early data from South Africa suggests Omicron "isn't quite as bad as previous variants", said Hodcroft, but there are important caveats that mean the UK "needs to be really cautious".

South Africa's population is much younger than the UK's so the outcomes don't tend to be so bad. A lot of South Africans have been infected and recovered from COVID or been vaccinated, so are less likely to get bad symptoms. Many infected with Omicron have not had it for very long, and it can take weeks before you end up with symptoms bad enough to go to the hospital.