Researchers at a state-invested infectious disease research institute have found that Covid-19 pills and injections are effective against Omicron’s four subvariants, quarantine authorities said Thursday.
At a Central Disease Control Headquarters meeting, Kwon Jun-wook, director of the National Institute of Health, said his agency had confirmed the efficacy of three Covid-19 treatments of Paxlovid, Lagevrio, and Remdesivir against four Omicron subvariants -- BA.5, BA.4, BA.2.3, and BA.12.
“Although the institute conducted the therapeutic efficacy assay at a cellular level, we expect the treatment to be equally effective when administered to confirmed patients at the right time,” Kwon said. “The New England Journal of Medicine research team also announced similar results that several Covid-19 treatments show efficacy against Omicron subvariants after the cell-level analysis.”
Kwon explained that the institute is conducting additional efficacy analysis research for the new and most contagious subvariant BA.2.75.
BA.2.75, or Centaurus, was first sequenced in India in May and has been found in about 10 countries, including the U.S., Australia, and Germany. According to health officials, BA.2.75 has many mutations in the spike protein compared to previous subvariants, making the virus bind to cells more effectively and evade antibodies formed by vaccines or infections.
“Whenever a new mutation appears, the NIH is quickly carrying out efficacy test through our research organ,” Kwon said. “The institute expects that it will take some time to isolate and secure enough the BA.2.75 virus, and plan to announce results soon.”
Korea confirmed its second BA.2.75 patient on Thursday.
According to authorities, the latest patient arrived from India on July 5 and tested positive two days later, even earlier than the first reported case, which tested positive on July 11 and was confirmed as infected by the BA.2.75 subvariant three days later.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stressed that it needed more time to confirm the patient as the whole genome-based mutation analysis by random sampling takes up to 10 days from a positive test and an additional five to seven days for analysis.
On Thursday, the KDCA confirmed 71,170 new virus cases, raising the cumulative caseload to 19,009,080.
The death toll came to 24,794, up 17 from the previous day, with a fatality rate of 0.13 percent. Critically ill patients also increased from 96 to 107.
About 44.64 million among 52 million Koreans have been fully vaccinated. In addition, about 33.41 million people had received their first booster shots, and 4.82 million had their second booster shots.
On Monday, Korea expanded eligibility for second booster shots to people 50 and older, including 18 and older, with underlying health conditions.
Previously, people aged 60 and older and those with an immune disorder were eligible for the fourth vaccine dose.
The move comes as the nation is experiencing another resurgence of the virus, driven by the Omicron strain BA.5, far more contagious and better able to escape immunity than earlier versions.
in the day, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has begun the preliminary review of the non-clinical and clinical trials results of Moderna’s Spikevax-2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine submitted by Moderna Korea before using it as booster shots.