The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, AstraZeneca’s Evusheld is proving ineffective against Omicron COVID-19 variants. Amid new reports, the antibody combination is ineffective against the latest subvariant of Omicron COVID-19 variants, including BA.4.6.
The US FDA said that it can increase the risk of COVID-19 infection for the variants that the vaccine does not neutralize. With Omicron BA.4.6 spreading rapidly in the United States, and slowly taking hold in Europe, the days of Evusheld as an option for prevention of COVID-19 infection could be numbered.
A Spokesperson of AstraZeneca said the Omicron BA.5 subvariant is still the most dominant strain of COVID-19 virus across the globe, and it accounts for 85 percent of the current COVID-19 infections. BA.4.6 represents just 6.2 percent of COVID-19 infections across the world and is growing slowly.
The spokesperson said that the BA.4.6 is not expected to become a dominant strain, and based on the low prevalence of the strain and the activity of Evusheld against the dominant COVID-19 variant, the vaccine should continue to provide more protection to the large majority of the intended recipients.
The US FDA still recommends using Evusheld, but warns of the increasing risk of contracting COVID-19 variants not neutralized by the vaccine.
