Data from Israel
Protection against corona infection decreases quickly after the fourth vaccination dose
A research team from Israel has investigated how effectively a fourth dose of the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine protects against corona infection.
© Dinendra Haria/ / Picture Alliance
The second booster vaccination can only protect people over 60 years of age from a corona infection for a short time, but it protects them from severe courses.
A fourth dose of the Corona vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer does not protect people over the age of 60 from infection for long, but according to a study from Israel, it significantly reduces the risk of a severe Sars-CoV-2 course.
Protection against corona infection decreased just four weeks after the second booster vaccination, as the researchers report in their study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research team evaluated data from the Israeli Ministry of Health on more than 1.25 million people over the age of 60 from January to March 2022. During this period, the omicron variant was predominant.
The study compared the number of corona infections and severe courses in people who had been vaccinated three times against the corona virus with those who had already received a fourth dose of vaccination. The second booster vaccination had to be at least eight days ago. Another requirement: the study only analyzed the data of people who received the Biontech/Pfizer agent for all vaccinations. The scientists also analyzed the data from another control group.
Protection against severe gradients
The main result: According to the data from Israel, a fourth vaccination only provides greater protection against infections than three vaccinations for a short time. But with a fourth dose of vaccination, older people seem to be better protected against severe courses: over the entire study period of six weeks, the number of severe Sars-CoV-2 cases in those who had been vaccinated four times was 3.5 times lower than in those who had only been vaccinated three times . According to the study, the investigation proves the protective effect against a serious illness with the omicron variant. However, the researchers point out that more research is needed to find out how long this protection lasts.
In another study in the preprint from Israel, researchers come to the conclusion that the mortality rate due to Covid-19 is 78 percent lower in older people aged 60 and over who have already received their fourth vaccination dose than in those who have been vaccinated three times.
At the beginning of the year, Israel began vaccinating over 60-year-olds with a fourth dose against the corona virus. In mid-January, the expert council there recommended the second booster vaccination for everyone over the age of 18. Just last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US changed its recommendations and recommended a fourth vaccination four months after the third dose with the mRNA vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer or Moderna for everyone aged 50 and over.
In Germany, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has been recommending the fourth dose since mid-February only to everyone over the age of 70. The recommendation also applies to people at risk of health, medical staff and residents of nursing homes. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has been promoting a second refresher for everyone over 60 since the end of March.
Swell: Stiko, FDA, New England Journal of Medicine, Preprint Israel