Global markets were cheered by the discovery that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine offers partial protection against the Omicron variant.

On the new trading day, Asian Stock Exchanges and US futures indices are rising as it is revealed that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine provides partial protection against the omicron variant. It was announced that the economy in Japan contracted by 3.6 percent annually in the third quarter of the year, above the expectations. While it was seen that investments were not very weak in the revision of the data, the decrease in consumption expenditures due to the pandemic caused concern.

The Japanese Nikkei index is up 1.50% after the data. Hong Kong Hang Seng diverged negative, while China’s CSI 300 was up 1.11 percent. The Volatility Index (VIX) fell 28.6 percent in two days to 21.89.

Biontech-Pfizer Vaccine Provides Partial Protection

Laboratory experiments performed at the African Institute for Health Research in South Africa revealed that the vaccine produced together by Pfizer and BioNTech provides partial protection against the Omicron variant. Thus, the first data revealing the effect of existing vaccines against the new variant were also announced.

However, the research revealed that antibodies produced in people who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had a 40 times lower capacity to neutralize the omicron compared to the original virus that emerged in China about two years ago.

“A good reminder dose will likely reduce the risk of getting sick, especially serious infections leading to more serious illness.” sad director of research Alex Sigal.