The conclusion said it is less effective.
The messenger RNA (mRNA) boosters were highly effective against symptomatic delta infection, but they were less effective against symptomatic omicron infection. However, with both variants, mRNA boosters led to strong protection against Covid-19–related hospitalization and death. (Funded by Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar and others.)
Don't get me wrong, I believe in the vaccine, but I think we are still far away from one vaccine that kill all the the mutations.
In this study, mRNA boosters were highly effective against infection with the delta variant but were less effective against infection with the omicron variant. However, these boosters led to strong protection against Covid-19–related hospitalization and death due to both variants.
We vaccinate in order to prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death. The original vaccines, per the link you shared, are extremely effective at this.
There seems to be a pervasive thought that our leaders ought to somehow become superhuman and obtain clairvoyance about how to solve any problem we have. They are no different from any of us, who think a bug has a simple solution before we spend a lot of time figuring out more complicated things were happening under the hood.
The new information, that the world is globalized, with many countries not being able to afford vaccines and also many militant anti vaxxers around?
How was wiping out covid, a realistic goal in the first place?
Similarly, a lot of people have been claiming we're evilly withholding patents from the world, but that can't be a real issue or China and Russia would just have stolen the IP from us. They literally can't produce them any faster even with the rights.
The CDC needs to be explicit and clearly admit that it was wrong or the data changed, and that vaccinated/boosted people can and will get sick or even spread disease to others. The new 'deal' is that they will likely not be hospitalized or suffer severe disease if infected.
Far too many people are still walking around thinking their shots and booster, now nearly 6 months old for some, are an impenetrable force field against any sickness.
I remember last year when this news hit, that bit about 90% effective *against infection* was amplified and played nonstop for the public. The message was clearly get vaccinated and you will not get sick.
It was not until July and the CDC MMWR report on the Providence, Rhode Island, bear week festivities that lead to unexpected breakthrough infections that the CDC admitted the vaccines were not 90% effective against infection anymore. Unfortunately this updated message has never been clearly told to the public, at least not as clearly or loudly as the original 90% protection against infection message.
> Walensky was referring to a new CDC study of nearly 4,000 front-line workers, some vaccinated and some not, who tested themselves weekly for COVID-19 infections between December and March.
> But more data is still necessary to say so definitively, which is why researchers are recruiting thousands of college students across the country to find out more about the likelihood of asymptomatic spread of this virus among vaccinated people.
The article is explicit that the CDC was talking about the findings in a new study, and that more research still needed to be conducted before being sure of their findings.
> It was not until July and the CDC MMWR report on the Providence, Rhode Island, bear week festivities that lead to unexpected breakthrough infections that the CDC admitted the vaccines were not 90% effective against infection anymore.
Because of the new delta variant that those very same festivity goers helped the CDC with[1], and that changed the CDC's guidelines:
> The speed of the investigation — and the exceptional participation from the mostly gay men involved in the outbreak — helped the CDC learn new information about the delta variant. And it was that new information, in part, that prompted the agency to change its guidance for how vaccinated people should keep themselves safe at this stage of the pandemic — including a return to masking indoors.
[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/06/1025553...
Btw, I’ve had both shots, had COVID and will get the booster.
That is unfortunate that we switched to directly getting mask policies etc. from them, because it's not their job to consider tradeoffs and they aren't good at it.
That's a direct quote from the head of the CDC, it does not get more official or more of a primary source than that IMHO.