Fourth corona vaccination against omicron: study from Israel sobering - professor sees "dilemma"

Created: 01/17/2022, 21:08

By: Tim Vincent Dicke

According to Israeli research results, a fourth corona vaccination only provides limited protection against omicron.

© Gideon Markowicz/dpa

What does the fourth corona vaccination bring?

There are preliminary study results from Israel on this question.

Apparently the protection against Omikron is not enough.

Tel Aviv – A booster for the booster?

According to current research results, this is not always advisable.

As can be seen from the first results of a clinical study with the vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer* and Moderna*, a fourth vaccination against Corona* apparently only provides limited protection against the omicron variant*.

This was announced by the Israeli Shiba Hospital near Tel Aviv on Monday (01/17/2022).

Infections are also observed in people who have been vaccinated four times, said Professor Gili Regev from the Shiba Hospital.

Two weeks after a fourth dose of Biontech's preparation, a "nice increase" in antibodies can be observed.

Their number is even slightly higher than the value after the third corona vaccination.

"But for Omikron this nice value is not enough." The fourth vaccination offers "only partial protection against the virus."

Fourth vaccination against Corona: "We see no significant difference"

Regev emphasized that these are interim results of the study, so she did not want to give more precise figures.

Around 150 participants in the study had received a fourth dose of Biontech's corona vaccine two weeks ago.

A week ago, 120 other participants received a fourth vaccination with Moderna after three doses of Biontech.

It is the world's first attempt at a fourth vaccination with combined vaccines, Regev said.

The results of both groups after one week are very similar.

"We don't see a significant difference."

"The decision (in Israel) to give immunocompromised people the fourth dose might confer a small benefit," Regev said.

“But probably not enough to give them to the entire population.” In Israel, over 60-year-olds and medical staff can also be vaccinated against Corona for the fourth time*.

In view of the preliminary study results, Regev spoke of a "dilemma" as to whether the fourth dose should be given to healthy people over the age of 60.

"If someone is at personal risk, then it would be better to vaccinate now, if not, then maybe it's better to wait."

Study on the fourth corona vaccination: Numerous Israelis have the booster for the booster

The Israeli government recently gave the go-ahead for the administration of a second booster vaccination to patients with a weakened immune system and people over 60 years of age.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 537,000 Israelis have already received a fourth dose of corona.

Only around 62 percent of the 9.4 million Israelis are still considered fully vaccinated.

These are doubly vaccinated up to six months after the second vaccination and people with a booster vaccination.

30 percent of the population has not been vaccinated at all, and the validity of the corona vaccination has expired for eight percent.

According to the Ministry of Health, almost 4.4 million Israelis have already received their third vaccination dose, and more than 537,000 have already received their fourth.

Israel* has recorded record numbers of new corona infections in the past few days, but the number of deaths is low.

Even the hospitals are not at the limit of their treatment capacities.

(tvd/dpa/AFP)