London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Feb 22, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Weighs Removing Prince Andrew from Line of Succession After Arrest
Prince Andrew’s Arrest in UK Rekindles Scrutiny Over US Handling of Epstein Records
Trump’s Strategic Warning to UK Over Chagos Islands Deal Sparks Diplomatic Whiplash
Starmer Government Postpones Local Elections Affecting 4.5 Million Voters
UK Economy Remains Fragile Despite Recent Upturn in Headline Indicators
UK Businesses Face Fresh Uncertainty Following US Tariff Ruling
Reform UK’s Senior Figures Face Scrutiny Over Remarks on Women and Family Policy
UK Electric Vehicle Drive Threatened by Shortage of 44,000 Qualified Technicians
University of Kentucky Trustees Advance Academic Reforms and Approve Coliseum Plaza Purchase
Boris Johnson Calls for Immediate Deployment of UK Troops to Support Ukraine
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praises the rapid progress of Chinese tech companies.
North Korea's capital experiences a significant construction boom with the development of a new city district dubbed 'Pyonghattan'.
New electric vehicle charging service eliminates waiting times
Vox Populi confronts Justin Trudeau at Davos over vaccination policies
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki ENDS support for Ukrainian citizens:
The mayor of Rotherham in Britain
One day after ex-Prince Andrew's arrest, British police are searching his former home, while U.K. lawmakers will consider introducing legislation to remove him from the line of royal succession
Vandana Shiva reminding the world that Bill Gates did not invent anything.
Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni highlights record employment and economic growth
UK Confirms Preferential U.S. Trading Terms Will Continue After Supreme Court Tariff Ruling
U.S. and U.K. to Hold Talks on Diego Garcia as Iran Objects to Potential Military Use
UK Officials Weigh Possible Changes to Prince Andrew’s Position in Line of Succession Amid Ongoing Scrutiny
British Police Probe Epstein’s UK Airport Links and Expand High-Profile Inquiries
The Impact of U.S. Sanctions on Cuba's Humanitarian Crisis: A Tightening Noose
Trump Directs Government to Release UFO and Alien Information
Trump Signs Global 10% Tariffs on Imports
United Kingdom Denies U.S. Access to Military Base for Potential Iran Strike
British Co-founder of ASOS falls to his death from Pattaya apartment
Early 2026 Data Suggests Tentative Recovery for UK Businesses and Households
UK Introduces Digital-First Passport Rules for Dual Citizens in Border Control Overhaul
Unable to Access Live Financial Data for January UK Surplus Report
UK Government Considers Law to Remove Prince Andrew from Royal Line of Succession
UK ‘Working Closely with US’ to Assess Impact of Supreme Court Tariff Ruling
Trump Criticises UK Decision to Restrict Use of Bases in Potential Iran Strike Scenario
UK Foreign Secretary and U.S. State Chief Hold Strategic Talks as Tensions Rise Over Joint Air Base
Two teens arrested in France for alleged terror plot.
Nordic Fracture: How Criminal Scandals and Toxic Ties are Dismantling the Norwegian Crown
US Supreme Court Voids Trump’s Emergency Tariff Plan, Reshaping Trade Power and Fiscal Risk
King Charles III Opens London Fashion Week as Royal Family Faces Fresh Scrutiny
Trump’s Evolving Stance on UK Chagos Islands Deal Draws Renewed Scrutiny
House Democrat Says Former UK Ambassador Unable to Testify in Congressional Epstein Inquiry
No Record of Prince Andrew Arrest in UK as Claims Circulate Online
UK Has Not Granted US Approval to Launch Iran Strikes from RAF Bases, Government Confirms
AI Pricing Pressure Mounts as Chinese Models Undercut US Rivals and Margin Risks Grow
Global Counsel, Advisory Firm Co-Founded by Lord Mandelson, Enters Administration After Client Exodus
London High Court dispute over Ricardo Salinas’s $400mn Elektra share-backed bitcoin loan
UK Intensifies Efforts to Secure Saudi Investment in Next-Generation Fighter Jet Programme
Former Student Files Civil Claim Against UK Authorities After Rape Charges Against Peers Are Dropped
Archer Aviation Chooses Bristol for New UK Engineering Hub to Drive Electric Air Taxi Expansion
UK Sees Surge in Medical Device Testing as Government Pushes Global Competitiveness
×