What happens to Israel, which has started receiving its fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine?

Israel was one of the first countries in the world to launch a fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine. Three weeks have passed since the start of the fight, how has it been?

Researchers at the Israeli Sheba Medical Center recently said that although the antibody level increased significantly after receiving the fourth dose of the vaccine, the protection provided by this antibody level can only be said to have a "certain effect" on the Omiljung strain.

In the face of a new wave of outbreaks caused by the Aomi Kerong strain, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett announced on January 2 that the Israeli Ministry of Health has approved a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 60 and health workers.

Song Jing, a resident scientist at the Benaroya Research Institute in the United States and a doctor of immunology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, told the first financial reporter that from a medical point of view, like the third agent, the fourth agent does have an effect on improving humoral immunity and cellular immunity. But according to a research paper in the journal Immunity, the fourth dose may not be as great as the first and second doses.

The results are initially revealed

"This is the preliminary result. We understand that the public needs information related to the fourth dose urgently, so we rush to say it before the official publication. Dr. Regev-Jokai, Director of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel. Gili Regev-Yochay) said so to the media. Sheba Medical Center is the largest hospital in Israel.

Regoff-Jokai also said that the Olmiqueron strain has a certain degree of "resistance" to vaccines, and the vaccine is more effective in preventing the previous new crown variant strain, but it is "less effective" to TheOmilon. The fourth dose increases the antibody and is slightly higher than the third dose, but many people are still infected by the Aumechjong strain after receiving the fourth dose.

Israel Sheba Medical Center launched a study on the safety and efficacy of the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in December 2021. The center's 270 medical staff were vaccinated with the Pfizer or Modena vaccine as a fourth booster. The researchers came up with these results after comparing immunity and serum data from subjects with 5,700 healthcare workers who were not vaccinated with the fourth dose.

But Regoff-Jokai still thinks it might still be right to offer a fourth dose of the vaccine to high-risk groups such as the elderly, with some benefits that aren't enough to support the plan to make it available to everyone.

The Israeli Ministry of Health approved a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised people in the country in late December last year. The fourth dose of the vaccine must be given at least 4 months away from the third dose. According to the latest data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, more than 500,000 Israelis have been vaccinated with the fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine to date.

Bennett said it was a "professional decision" made by the Israeli Ministry of Health after consulting experts that the fourth dose of the vaccine would provide "a new layer of protection" for Israelis. Bennett encouraged people eligible for a fourth dose of the vaccine to get it.

Race against the pandemic

Nachman Ash, director general of Israel's Ministry of Health, said the latest information would be taken into account when deciding whether to promote the fourth dose to the whole population.

Eyal Leshem, another infectious disease specialist at Israel's Sheba Medical Center, said that in the long run, two or three doses of the new crown vaccine will provide most people with good protection against severe diseases. He also pointed out that if the power of the mutated strains in the future becomes smaller and smaller, and it is likely that there will be no need to supplement supplements.

In fact, when it was decided to launch the fourth dose, even Israeli experts acknowledged that it was not a mature and robust move.

Professor Galia Rahav, a member of the Israeli Ministry of Health's expert panel, said the decision to start a fourth dose was not easy because there were no complete data on the immunization effect of the fourth dose. "But at the same time, the global pandemic data is terrible, and if you don't act immediately, you'll miss out on getting on the bus." He said.

The World Health Organization said on December 15 that prima facie evidence suggests that the Omiljun strain may make the COVID-19 vaccine less effective and that people are at higher risk of repeat infection with the strain. However, the effectiveness of existing tests and treatments does not appear to have been compromised.

Song Jing also told the first financial reporter that looking at the world at the moment, the fact that people in developing countries who have not been vaccinated against the new crown vaccine have the first injection is more important than discussing whether to get a fourth dose.

While no conclusion has yet been reached on whether to extend the fourth dose to the population, Israel's determination to increase universal vaccination rates has not changed. Israel's Ministry of Health announced on January 12 that anyone over the age of 5 can now be vaccinated against COVID-19, and it is expected that by April this year, infants and young children over 6 months of age will be vaccinated.