By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters). CDC Friday announced that three U.S. studies showed that a third dose mRNA vaccination is crucial in fighting Omicron coronavirus variant. It provides 90 percent protection against COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The CDC led the studies. They are one of the first American studies to evaluate the effect of booster doses of Omicron, which is responsible for 99% in all COVID new cases.

They concluded that both infection as well as symptomatic diseases can be protected by boosters. The most beneficial doses of vaccines given by BioNTech SE, NASDAQ: to adults over 50 years old were those administered extra BioNTech SE vaccines. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) or Moderna (NASDAQ:) Inc.

In a White House briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky from the CDC stated that Omicron-related hospitalizations and protection against infection are highest among those who have been vaccinated.

In other countries vaccine boosters have shown better results against the Delta virus than Omicron. Omicron is an extremely mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 that can evade immune system.

One of the studies, published on Friday https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e3.htm?s_cid=mm7104e3_w in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at rates of hospitalization, emergency department and urgent care visits in 10 states between Aug. 26, 2021, and Jan. 5, 2022.

This study showed that people who received their second dose of vaccine at least six months prior to the first one had 57% protection. Protection from hospitalizations and urgent care visits for those who had received boosters was 91%.

In another study https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2788485#:~:text=Conclusions%20and%20Relevance%20Among%20individuals,compared%20with%20test-negative%20controls published in the JAMA medical journal, researchers reviewed data on 23,391 COVID-19 cases caused by either the Delta or Omicron variant among people seeking testing between Dec. 10, 2021, and Jan. 1, 2022.

Researchers found that people who sought testing for COVID-like symptoms had greater protection against infection than those who received only two or three doses of mRNA vaccine.

The timing of U.S. boosters recommendations meant that most participants were immunized within one month of seeking testing.

UK data has demonstrated that antibody boosters do not provide any protection beyond 10 months. Therefore, it remains to be seen how long the benefit could last.

Some countries have already started offering additional booster doses, but a recent study https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-study-shows-4th-shot-covid-19-vaccine-not-able-block-omicron-2022-01-17 from Israel showed that while a fourth dose of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the level was not high enough to prevent infection by the Omicron variant.

The lackluster enthusiasm shown for boosters by the United States in its early days was due in part to shifting messaging in public health and worries among experts regarding a shortage of U.S. data that demonstrated their effectiveness.

Some Americans have the mistaken belief that boosters are unnecessary if one can still be infected.

According to the CDC only 39.3% (or 82.5 million) of Americans fully vaccinated have received a COVID-19 boost dose.