Are these 3rd jabs updated to the new variant?

[Annie88xx]

Just curious? Is it still based off the first variant which is why the jabs aren’t working as well against the delta strain? Because isn’t that pretty pointless ??? Flu jabs are changed every year and it’s nearly 2 years on and we are using the very first variant in the jabs ??

I might be wrong, but my understanding is that they're the same jab. However, they're only giving us Pfizer or Moderna as they work better against the main strain of the virus at the moment, ie Delta.

Updated for what new strain? The current prevalent strain (99%) is delta. The vaccine (2 dose plus booster at 6 months) is highly effective against serious illness and death from the Delta variant.

btw, in some recent years, the flu vaccine (updated each year for new variants) can have an efficacy rate of only 40-60%, but we still give the vaccine and carry on. Some people still get flu even with a flu vaccine.
The Covid vaccine has a much higher efficacy rate against the current main variant than the flu vaccine would in an average year.

The original vaccines are effective with the delta variant. Unless you mean something else? They haven't needed to update anything. The flu vaccine is based on what they predict the variants will be in advance and they don't always get it right. At the moment there aren't new dominant covid strains to need to change the vaccine. Too soon for that.

No, they’re not specifically engineered against Delta. They’re just a third shot of the same, which lifts neutralising antibodies to a level where it’s well placed to fight off infection from Delta.

I am a little surprised that they haven't been tweaked for delta. They are less efficacious for the delta variant and we were reassured that they would be able to tweak pfizer quickly if needed. I wonder if that wasn't accurate.

They haven’t been tweaked. I’m not sure they could be tweaked given how often it mutates? It’s a coronavirus so there’s not really anything that works completely against it.

Don't think any been tweaked but they say effective against most varients.
Think beta was a problem one.