Fourth COVID shot triples resistance to serious illness in over-60s, Israel finds

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A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine given to people over 60 in Israel made them three times more resistant to serious illness than triple-vaccinated people in the same age group, Israel’s Health Ministry said on Sunday.

This number is based on a comparison with those in the same age group who received a third dose at least four months earlier. The ministry said its analysis was based on statistics on some 400,000 people who had received a fourth shot and 600,000 who had received a third shot.

The Health Ministry’s announcement came after the release of the first large U.S. studies led by the Centers for Disease Control to look at vaccine protection against omicron.

The three studies echoed previous research – including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. – indicating available vaccines are less effective against omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that boosters significantly improve protection.

The first study looked at hospitalizations and emergency room and urgent care center visits in 10 states, from August to this month. The booster shot seems to be 90 percent effective against hospitalization with the omicron variant, according to the CDC study.

The second study focused on COVID-19 case and death rates in 25 states from the beginning of April through Christmas. People who were boosted had the highest protection against coronavirus infection, both during the time delta was dominant and when omicron was taking over as the dominant strain.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the third study, also led by CDC researchers. It looked at people who tested positive for COVID-19 from December 10 to January 1 at more than 4,600 testing sites across the U.S.

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Three shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were about 67 percent effective against omicron-related symptomatic disease compared with unvaccinated people. Two doses, however, offered no significant protection against omicron, the researchers found.