Previously infected, vaccinated people will have 'stronger than basic' protection: Top 8 findings on Omicron

Here are the important points that researchers noted after looking into the recently identified variant of coronavirus.

1) The study conducted in a lab suggests that Omicron "exceeds" all other variants in its potential capability to evade the protection gained from previous COVID-19 infection or vaccination 2) The findings also suggest that although a third dose of vaccines can significantly boost immunity, the protection from Omicron may be compromised.

3) The results support recent findings in South Africa which highlight that for Omicron it was easy to evade immunity, they noted.

4) Researches cautioned that because the antibody protection -- in the form of previous infection or vaccination -- decreases gradually over a period of six months, Omicron "may be able to escape immunity even better".

5) More research carried out not just in-vitro but in real-world studies is urgently needed to better understand Omicron.

6) More population studies, including the level of immune protection and symptoms among people infected with Omicron are needed to fully establish the global impact of Omicron on the control of pandemic 7) The major caveat of this study is that it is in-vitro in nature and that it used pseudotyped or manufactured viruses.

8) The current vaccine literature "has established that the in-vitro neutralisation assays are good predictors of vaccine protection efficacy and real-world vaccine effectiveness.