Tel Aviv, Jan. 5 (BNA) Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, citing the initial results of an Israeli study, said that a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine boosts antibodies fivefold a week after the injection was given.
“A week after the fourth dose, we know with a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” said Bennett at Sheba Medical Center, which is giving second booster doses in a trial among its employees amid a nationwide increase in the Omicron variant. infections.
“The second news: We know that after a week of taking a fourth dose, we see a fivefold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” he told reporters.
“This likely means a significant increase in exposure to infection and … hospitalization and (severe) symptoms,” Bennett said in English.
Israel played a leading role in studying the effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as the fastest country to deploy two-dose vaccinations to a large population a year ago and one of the first countries to give the third vaccines as boosters.
It now provides fourth doses to people over 60, health workers and immunocompromised patients.
The World Health Organization has said that more people around the world must be vaccinated with the first doses before others receive the boosters.
Sheba’s trial began on December 27, giving a fourth dose of the Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) vaccines to 150 medical workers whose antibody levels had decreased significantly since they received their third four to five doses. months ago.
Sheba said a separate group is scheduled to receive Moderna’s vaccine for its fourth dose this week.
Mild side effects reported by some participants thus far did not differ from those reported after a third dose. The hospital said it included pain, fever and headache.
Since the highly mutated Omicron variant was first discovered in November, WHO data shows it has spread rapidly and has appeared in at least 128 countries.
Case numbers soared to hit all records, but hospitalization and death rates were significantly lower than in other phases of the pandemic.
In Israel, daily infections have increased more than 10 times over the past month.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, serious diseases have also escalated, but at a much slower pace.
About 60% of the country’s population of 9.4 million has been fully vaccinated.
Some research has indicated that even if Omicron survives the antibodies, a key part of the immune system’s second line of defense — T cells — is still very effective at recognizing and attacking the variant, preventing most infections from progressing to serious disease.