Another new study – yes, a SECOND one – says the “Omicron-specific” mRNA Covid boosters are worthless

Guest Post by Alex Berenson

For the second time in a week, top scientists have reported that “Omicron specific” Covid mRNA boosters are a $5 billion taxpayer-financed marketing gimmick.

The new shots work no better than the original mRNA shots to produce antibodies specifically targeting the Omicron variant.

And the Omicron shots are even WORSE than the original boosters in producing T-cells that target Omicron, according to the researchers, part of a group led by Dr. Dan Barouch, a highly respected virologist. This finding is of particular concern because T-cells, the second line of the immune system, keep infections from becoming too severe.

Boosters using the original mRNA formulation have been largely phased out, because – as public health bureaucrats now admit – they stop working against Omicron infection within weeks. In fact, real-world data from many countries suggest they increase the risk of infection within months.

The “Omicron-specific” boosters were supposed to solve that problem. Regulators approved them in August, despite a lack of any clinical trial evidence they reduced coronavirus infections or serious cases of Covid in people. The Federal government agreed to pay Pfizer and Moderna $5 billion for 171 million doses of them.

But both Dr. Barouch’s study and another last week from Dr. David Ho, another top virologist, found that Omicron-specific boosters work no better than the original boosters against Omicron. Both studies showed the antibodies our immune systems produce after the Omicron shot are more effective against the original and now essentially extinct version of Sars-Cov-2 than against Omicron variants.

This phenomenon is called “original antigenic sin” or “immune imprinting,” and can occur after any vaccination – or infection. But the mRNA shots appear particularly likely to cause it, probably because they stimulate such high levels of anti-spike antibodies when they are first given.

The findings help explain why so many people, including Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, have recently tested positive shortly after being boosted.

But Dr. Barouch’s group went further than Dr. Ho’s, examining T-cells as well. It found the same problem; following both the Omicron and the old booster, T-cells focused much more on the original Sars-Cov-2 than Omicron variants.

T-cells are a crucial second line of immune defense, helping the body keep infections from becoming too severe. Because Omicron is not very dangerous to most people, so a weak T-cell response does not matter much against it. But if a future Sars-Cov-2 variant is more dangerous, the relative lack of a T-cell response could put vaccinated people may be at serious risk.

(Bivalent is a fancy word for “Omicron-specific.” Except the Omicron-specific booster isn’t Omicron-specific at all, which is why T-cells targeting Omicron hardly rise at all following the bivalent booster, while they more than double after the original booster.)

As the researchers concluded:

Our findings suggest that immune imprinting by prior antigenic exposure may pose a greater challenge than currently appreciated for inducing robust immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Such a polite way to say, we gave a billion-plus people mRNA shots that probably opened them to future Sars-Cov-2 infections forever.

No worries! Lessons learned and all that.

-----------------------------------------------------
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal

-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
7 Comments
Anonymous
Anonymous
November 1, 2022 6:58 am

I could be very wrong but hasn’t Berenson ignored OAS this entire time?
Until now.

flash
flash
November 1, 2022 7:32 am

comment image

flash
flash
  flash
November 1, 2022 7:32 am

comment image

Iska Waran
Iska Waran
November 1, 2022 7:33 am

Unfortunately Walensky will probably be fine.

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Iska Waran
November 1, 2022 7:56 am

Only if we the people remain passive in critical numbers. Let’s go Pareto principle on their asses. A hardcore relentless 20% makes history every time . . .

flash
flash
November 1, 2022 9:33 am

comment image

Svarga Loka
Svarga Loka
November 1, 2022 5:35 pm

A couple of factual errors in the article:
1) The original mRNA formulation has not been phased out, but rather the new booster (allegedly) contains both the original mRNA (to the extinct original viral spike) as well as the Omicron spoke mRNA. It is a mixed formulation, hence the term “bivalent”.

(That is if you believe anything about what is in those shots in the first place. To quote HSF from many moons ago, it might well be horse piss).

2) T-cell immunity is not a second line of defense to respiratory viral illnesses, but it is the very first line and the foremost mechanism of immunity. Antibody mediated immunity plays a much inferior role in those illnesses. This was one of many untruths that was peddled from early 2020 to the lay public.