Analysis: We’ll know more soon about Omicron. Here’s how to interpret the coming flood of data

How to interpret the coming data on Omicron and Covid immunity We’ll know more soon about Omicron and immune protection. Here’s how to interpret the coming flood of data. Andrew Joseph STAT

At some point in the next few weeks, scientists will start releasing data from lab experiments that can help illuminate just how much of a threat the Omicron variant poses to existing Covid-19 vaccines and our immunity. But there won’t be one clear conclusion reported at one time.

The results will come out in drips — one preprint study posted here, one company press release there. Together, these lab studies, combined with the clinical outcomes of patients infected with the variant, will help experts form a broader understanding of Omicron’s impact — and whether, if it takes off globally, we might need to adapt our vaccines.

Key results will come from studies that involve testing how well antibodies in the blood of people who’ve been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 stand up against Omicron. Soon, research teams will report findings such as a drop in neutralizing activity against the variant — it could be, say, a fivefold or 50-fold drop — or some percentage decline in the levels, or titer, of neutralizing antibodies. ...