Almost two years after the new coronavirus caused the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic, the world has racked up some impressive vaccination statistics.
One of them is that more than 1.27 billion booster doses have already been administered as governments look to strengthen the immunity of their citizens.
Typically a booster has been a third shot, although sometimes it has been a second if the initial vaccine was single-dose.
Fourth doses have already been administered in some nations, including Israel, where they were introduced in December for people with weakened immune systems, for healthcare workers and for the elderly.
It raises the question of whether boosters will be required indefinitely, perhaps to protect against new variants, or to bum up immunity that wanes over time.
Do third doses bolster protection against Covid-19?
Recent studies have indicated that after a third shot, people are able to produce a much wider range of antibodies than after just two doses. One piece of research looked at memory B cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies.
After a third mRNA vaccine dose, scientists found that the antibodies produced “showed significantly increased potency and breadth when compared to antibodies obtained after the second vaccine dose”.
This is thought to be why a third dose increases protection against variants like Omicron – which has numerous mutations distinguishing it from other variants – even though the vaccines were “not specifically designed to protect against variants”.
Other research found that in people given some of the most popular Covid-19 vaccines, T cells, a type of immune cell often linked to durable protection against pathogens, were 80 per cent as effective against Omicron as they were against other variants.
This indicates that, thanks to T cells, the protection against Covid-19 generated by vaccination may be sustained even after antibody levels may decline.
What do real-world studies say?
Aside from looking at people’s immune response after two or three doses, researchers are also analysing the real-world effectiveness of multiple jabs at preventing disease.
A US study published on February 11 found that during the two months after a third dose of an mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccine, the jab was 91 per cent effective at stopping a person from requiring urgent care. But by the fourth month after the third dose, this had dropped to 78 per cent.
In response, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the US president, said “there may be the need for yet again another boost — in this case, a fourth-dose boost for an individual receiving the mRNA [vaccine]”.
Speaking at the same time, he suggested this could depend upon a person’s age and whether they have underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.
Indeed the US and some other countries, such as the UK, now recommend a fourth dose for people with weakened immune systems.
What else is known about how immunity will last over time?
While studies of B cells and T cells indicate the immunity may be durable in some people, information is limited by the fact that mass vaccination programmes began little more than a year ago (although some people on clinical trials were jabbed earlier).
“The data just doesn’t exist to say how the immunity will pan out,” said Prof Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading in the UK.
“We simply don’t know what the rate of decline will be after being boosted … My guess would be for the coming year, certainly six months or 12 months, there will be detectable immunity in people who’ve received the booster.
“That will be deemed sufficient for the next wave – the standard [expected peak in] winter we have at the end of this year and beginning of next year.”
Prof Nicolas Locker, professor of virology at the University of Surrey in the UK, said scientists can follow the immunity of people over a certain period and use the information gathered to predict how immunity will change later on.
But this, he said, was no substitute for following people for a year or two years, and it would not indicate what protection would be like against new variants.
How effective is a fourth dose?
A trial in Israel, details of which were released on Wednesday indicates that a fourth dose of an mRNA jab tops up a person’s antibodies against Covid-19, but perhaps does not do much more than this.
The trial involved 274 healthcare workers given a fourth dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jabs and compared them to hundreds of other people who were not administered the extra booster.
After a third dose, levels of neutralising antibodies (which can prevent the virus infecting human cells) tend to decline. Researchers found that a fourth dose increased antibody levels back up to where they were after the third dose, but typically no higher than this.
So while a third jab has been shown to significantly boost protection, especially against new variants, a fourth may have a less significant effect, at least among healthy people whose immune systems already responded well to the third dose.
Also, even after the fourth dose, the vaccine had limited effectiveness at protecting a person from being infected with the coronavirus, although infections tended to be mild or asymptomatic rather then severe.
The researchers concluded that the “low efficacy” at preventing infections “raise[s] the urgency of next-generation vaccine development”.
Will Covid-19 boosters be required regularly?
There has been much discussion over whether repeated boosters will be needed to maintain protection against Covid-19.
Prof Paul Digard, chair of virology at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, said “there probably won’t be much call for a regular booster” unless significantly different variants emerge.
“Protection from virus infections and vaccination will give us some reasonable protection for a while. I’m not expecting to be queuing up for a fourth booster in the next few months,” he said.
“Even if your antibody titres [concentrations] have waned enough that you can be reinfected, you still have memory response; you will be able to mount a good immune response faster and better.”
Some experts, such as Prof Locker, think that governments may vaccinate populations periodically, as is the case against influenza in some countries.
“In the long term, provided vaccine coverage is increasing, we’ll probably move into a pattern of annual vaccination that covers us against circulating variants,” he said. “But this is only going to be efficient if we have good vaccine coverage worldwide.”
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
MATCH INFO
World Cup 2022 qualifier
UAE v Indonesia, Thursday, 8pm
Venue: Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
SQUAD
Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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More on Quran memorisation:
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH RESULT
Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Jazira: Mabkhout (52'), Romarinho (77'), Al Hammadi (90' 6)
Persepolis: Alipour (42'), Mensha (84')
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
