Getting fully vaccinated and keeping up to date with COVID-19 booster shots, offers the highest degree of protection against omicron infection.
Because of omicron’s high number of mutations, it may be more resistant than earlier variants were to the antibodies created by vaccines.
In December 2021, early data from South Africa showed that the two-dose Pfizer vaccine was only 33% effective at preventing infection but was 70% effective at preventing hospitalization.
In January 2022, the CDC reported that a “booster” dose of the Pfizer vaccine was “highly effective” at restoring some of the lost protection and lowering the chance of visits to urgent care facilities and hospitalization.
The agency warned that breakthrough infections are likely to happen in vaccinated people. But it also reported that some, but not all, monoclonal antibody treatments are effective against omicron.