Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Saturday, Jan 24, 2026

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partly funded an Omicron variant study with a surprising conclusion about boosters

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partly funded an Omicron variant study with a surprising conclusion about boosters

The latest Omicron subvariant may be a master at evading the immune response our bodies produce from the vaccine or previous COVID-19 infection, but a new study suggests existing booster shots will still help.
Getting a booster can generate enough of an antibody response and protection from severe disease outcomes to hold up against any of the new Omicron subvariants, according to an early release paper published this week in Science. That extends to BA.5, now the most prevalent COVID strain in the U.S. and a driver of COVID-19 reinfections across the country.

The finding comes as the Biden administration considers whether to expand access to a second booster shot to all adults because of concerns that subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 will further push up cases and hospitalizations. Since March, anyone 50 and older or immunocompromised and at least 12 years old has been eligible for a second booster, per CDC recommendations.

Led by the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Veesler Lab, the research team started a few months ago by just looking at the previously dominant BA.1, BA.2, and BA.2.12.1 subvariants, then later adding in BA.4 and BA.5. It assessed the properties of these subvariants and evaluated how a panel of seven vaccines already available in the U.S. and around the globe would protect against them.

BA.5 is a relatively new Omicron subvariant but “probably the most important one now in the study as it’s about to become globally dominant,” according to John Bowen, one of the paper’s lead authors and a biochemist at the Veesler Lab.

The BA.5 strain has been touted as the most contagious one yet, so much so that vaccinated people have reported catching it even after a recent bout of COVID-19. The first part of the study sheds light on why that is; BA.5 can outcompete other subvariants because its spike protein binds to the host receptor more than six times better than the original strain that first circulated in 2019.

The researchers ultimately determined that BA.5 will be the most immune-evasive COVID-19 variant to date, but that doesn’t mean our previous boosters can no longer restore protection.

“We were able to look at essentially every single prominent vaccine platform in the world side by side and see that despite the scariness of this variant, all of these vaccine platforms are going to elicit solid immune responses,” Bowen told Fortune.

Because of BA.5’s reputation, the findings initially caught the researcher by surprise.

“When I was seeing the data after the third shot, I had to repeat it over and over again because I was just like, ‘Why am I not seeing that this is as immune evasive as other people have said?’” Bowen recounted. “We were very excited to see that even though it’s more immune evasive than the other ones we tested, previous methods are still going to protect against it.”

The research effort was an international collaboration between infectious disease research physicians and scientists from UW Medicine, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, and institutes in California, Argentina, Italy, Pakistan, and Switzerland. It received funding from a plethora of sources, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration has advised vaccine makers to update their booster shots to target the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. While people wait for those, though, Bowen said the research indicates that vaccines designed for a strain from a few years ago still work.

“We totally agree it’s very important to continue trying to find better ways to make protective vaccines,” he said. “It’s going to take some time to get those. If people need vaccines, we know that current boosting methods are going to be protective.”
Comments

Oh ya 4 year ago
And the stupid people will line up for this like sheep to the slaughter. Use you brains folks if the first 3 clot shots did not protect you and they have not changed the so called vaccine do you really thing shot 4 will be the magic bullet. If you think it will protect you then please go take it as we know the shots are removing stupid people from the gene pool at a huge rate. You just can not fix stupid.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Saudi-Backed LIV Golf Confirms Return to Trump National Bedminster for 2026 Season
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
Saudi Arabia’s Careful Balancing Act in Relations with Israel Amid Regional and Domestic Pressures
Greenland, Gaza, and Global Leverage: Today’s 10 Power Stories Shaping Markets and Security
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Saudi Arabia Advances Ambitious Artificial River Mega-Project to Transform Water Security
Saudi Crown Prince and Syrian President Discuss Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Regional Ties in Riyadh Talks
Mohammed bin Salman Confronts the ‘Iranian Moment’ as Saudi Leadership Faces Regional Test
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
Donald Trump Organization Unveils Championship Golf Course and Luxury Resort Project in Saudi Arabia
Inside Diriyah: Saudi Arabia’s $63.2 Billion Vision to Transform Its Historic Heart into a Global Tourism Powerhouse
Trump Designates Saudi Arabia a Major Non-NATO Ally, Elevating US–Riyadh Defense Partnership
Trump Organization Deepens Saudi Property Focus with $10 Billion Luxury Developments
There is no sovereign immunity for poisoning millions with drugs.
Mohammed bin Salman’s Global Standing: Strategic Partner in Transition Amid Debate Over His Role
Saudi Arabia Opens Property Market to Foreign Buyers in Landmark Reform
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
CNN’s Ranking of Israel’s Women’s Rights Sparks Debate After Misleading Global Index Comparison
Saudi Arabia’s Shifting Regional Alignment Raises Strategic Concerns in Jerusalem
OPEC+ Holds Oil Output Steady Amid Member Tensions and Market Oversupply
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
President Trump Says United States Will Administer Venezuela Until a Secure Leadership Transition
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Saudi-UAE Rift Adds Complexity to Middle East Diplomacy as Trump Signals Firm Leadership
OPEC+ to Keep Oil Output Policy Unchanged Despite Saudi-UAE Tensions Over Yemen
Saudi Arabia and UAE at Odds in Yemen Conflict as Southern Offensive Deepens Gulf Rift
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Why Saudi Arabia May Recalibrate Its US Spending Commitments Amid Rising China–America Rivalry
Riyadh Air’s First Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Completes Initial Test Flight, Advancing Saudi Carrier’s Launch
Saudi Arabia’s 2025: A Pivotal Year of Global Engagement and Domestic Transformation
Saudi Arabia to Introduce Sugar-Content Based Tax on Sweetened Drinks from January 2026
Saudi Hotels Prepare for New Hospitality Roles as Alcohol Curbs Ease
Global Airports Forum Highlights Saudi Arabia’s Emergence as a Leading Aviation Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia Weighs Strategic Choice on Iran Amid Regional Turbulence
Saudi Arabia Condemns Sydney Bondi Beach Shooting and Expresses Solidarity with Australia
Washington Watches Beijing–Riyadh Rapprochement as Strategic Balance Shifts
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Drives Measurable Lift in Global Reputation and Influence
×