The omicron variant of the coronavirus has led to a serious dent in the ability of vaccines to protect us from catching COVID-19.

While, two doses of some vaccines offer almost no protection from an omicron infection, although they should still greatly reduce the risk of becoming so ill you need hospital care. It can be seen that the vaccines were developed to fight the first form of the virus that emerged two years ago.

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So can a third or “booster” dose of those original vaccines make the difference or has omicron already outwitted the protection they can give?

While the contents of the syringe may be identical, a booster is not just more of the same for the immune system.

The protection you’re left with after the third dose is bigger, broader and more memorable than you had before.

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What is Covid school?

Fighting the deadly virus is something your immune system has to learn. One option is to figure it out on the job when you encounter the virus for real. However, there is a risk of getting it wrong and ending up seriously ill.

Vaccines are more like a school – a safer environment to further your immune system’s Covid education.

The first dose is primary school education that nails the fundamentals.

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The Numbers game

It is not just about the quality of antibodies, the quantity goes up with boosting too.

BBC reported Prof Charles Bangham, from Imperial, said: “You get more of them, the concentration in the blood increases and we don’t know how long this is going to last, but the more times you’re vaccinated the longer-lasting the immune memory is.”

The impact of all this is clear in the same studies that showed two doses were weaker against Omicron. The protection against getting any Covid symptoms shot up to around 75% after the booster.

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Elsewhere in the immune system, boosting is giving our bodies the upper hand against future variants too.

So while omicron is squirming away from the immune system, each vaccine dose and indeed each infection is giving our body’s defences more tools to hunt it down.