Published 17 January 2022 at 22.41
Abroad. Four doses of vaccine provide insufficient protection against the omicron variant of covid-19, according to a new study from Israel.
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The Swedish Public Health Agency recommends that everyone aged 18 and over take a third dose of vaccine – a so-called “refill dose”.
In Israel, parts of the population have started to be given a fourth injection, which is called a “second refill dose”.
But a new study by researchers at Israel's largest hospital, Sheba Medical Center, shows that not even a fourth syringe provides satisfactory protection against omicrone, the variant of covid -19 which is now most common. It writes The Times of Israel and Reuters.
The fourth dose produces more antibodies than the third dose, but it is still not enough to provide good protection against the virus.
– We see an increase in the number of antibodies, higher than after the third dose. But at the same time, we see that many who have received a fourth dose are infected with omicron. Sure, slightly less than in the control group, but still very many infections, says Professor Gili Regev-Yochay.
-The conclusion is that the vaccine works well against alpha and delta, but not well enough against omicrons. According to Gili Regev-Yochay, it is probably not possible to achieve adequate protection against omicron with the current vaccines.
– We now know that the level of antibodies required to protect against omicron infection is probably is too high for the vaccine, even if it is a good vaccine, she says.
The study included both Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccine.