Omicron variant has "robust ability" to evade COVID vaccines, but Pfizer says booster shots "neutralized" it

Johannesburg — South African scientists who've been testing the current COVID-19 vaccines against the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus have released some early findings that show the strain has a "robust ability" to evade the immunity offered by inoculation. But, as CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta reports, it's not all bad news.

U.S. vaccine maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Wednesday, meanwhile, that while the standard two-dose regimen of their vaccine was "significantly less effective at blocking the virus," a booster shot "neutralized the Omicron variant in lab tests." 

The pharmaceutical companies released a statement reporting their latest data as both they and independent researchers race to understand how much of a threat Omicron poses to the world. The news from Pfizer and BioNTech echoed what scientists in South Africa have reported — including that the standard two-dose inoculation "may still induce protection against severe disease."