“Three to five times higher protection against serious diseases”: Adults in Israel are advised to be vaccinated against Corona a fourth time. Whether the recommendation will also be approved remains to be seen.
An Israeli expert council has recommended a fourth vaccination against the coronavirus for all residents of the country aged 18 and over.
The Ministry of Health announced that the recommendation applies to adults who received the booster vaccination more than five months ago or who recovered before this period. The expert council, the so-called epidemic control team, consists of employees from the Ministry of Health, representatives of health insurance companies and scientists.
“The decision was made in light of positive results showing three to five times greater protection against serious disease after the fourth dose of vaccine,” the statement said. The protection against infection with the corona virus is twice as high in those who have been vaccinated four times as in those who have been vaccinated three times. The recommendation still needs to be approved by the Director General of the Ministry of Health.
Skepticism about the effectiveness of the fourth dose
In Israel, more than 600,000 people have already received a fourth dose of the vaccine. So far, the recommendation only applied to people over the age of 60, immunocompromised people and medical staff.
On the other hand, the head of a study on the effectiveness of the fourth dose was rather skeptical. Although it leads to a “nice increase” in antibodies, it does not provide sufficient protection against the omicron variant, which is now also dominant in Israel, said Professor Gili Regev from the Shiba Hospital near Tel Aviv about a week ago.
At the peak of the omicron wave
According to experts, Israel is at the peak of the omicron wave. More than 580,000 of the more than nine million citizens are currently infected with the corona virus. The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that more than 83,000 other cases had been registered within 24 hours.
Only 63 percent of the country’s 9.4 million residents are still considered fully vaccinated. In Israel, this includes people who have been vaccinated twice up to six months after the second vaccination and people who have received a booster vaccination. 29 percent of the population have not been vaccinated at all, and the validity of the vaccination has expired for eight percent.
Source From: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
