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The Health Ministry on Sunday said that the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine provides three times the protection from serious illness and twice the protection from infections than three doses offer.
Israel began offering a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine to people over 60 and immunosuppressed earlier this month as Omicron swept the country.
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Elderly man receives the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine earlier this month
(Photo: AFP)
The ministry said the data is from preliminary analysis of a study conducted by the Weizmann Institute, Hebrew University and the Sheba Medical Center.
The study compared 400,000 people over the age of 60 who were vaccinated a fourth time with 300,000 participants of the same age group, who received their third jab more than four months ago, the ministry said.
Last week, Sheba published preliminary findings of a study which showed that although immunity was increased after the fourth vaccine, its efficacy was not sufficient to prevent infection by the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
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The coronavirus ward at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem on Sunday
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
That study was conducted on 270 of the hospital staff, who were administered both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The study showed those who were given Moderna as a fourth dose developed better immunity than those who were only given Pfizer vaccines.
The study also showed that two weeks after the jab, immunity in those who were given the Pfizer shot, increased.
First published: 21:25, 01.23.22