By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The three U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccinations seem to have significantly lower protection against Omicron virus variant coronavirus, as shown in laboratory testing. However, a booster dose is likely to restore most of that protection according to a Tuesday study.

Researchers at Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT have not peer-reviewed the blood samples from those who were given the study. Moderna (NASDAQ:), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines against a pseudovirus engineered to resemble the Omicron variant.

The researchers found “low to absent” antibody neutralization of the variant from the regular regimens of all three vaccines – two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines or one of J&J’s single-dose vaccine.

However, blood samples from people who received an additional boost dose showed a strong neutralization of this variant.

Omicron may also be more dangerous than other variants of concern. Omicron could easily become twice as infectious as Delta, the dominant variant currently at risk. Omicron might soon overtake Delta.

This is in agreement with previous studies. University of Oxford scientists said that two-doses were found to be safe. Pfizer (NYSE:) or AstraZeneca, (NASDAQ:). The COVID-19 vaccine regimens don’t induce sufficient neutralizing antibodies to the new variant.

BioNTech and Pfizer claimed last week that three shots of the COVID-19 vaccine were able to neutralize Omicron in a laboratory experiment, while two doses produced significantly less neutralizing antibodies.

Moderna and J&J have yet to release any of their own data about how the vaccines perform against the new variant. J&J declined to comment on the new study and Moderna did not respond to request for comment.