The battle over the fourth dose of the new crown vaccine

On 28 March, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett announced the confirmation of the New Coronavirus infection. However, this news did not make any waves, and when I checked the Israeli mainstream media on the same day, the news did not make the headlines, nor was it reflected on the first page of the website.

Ms. Rivka, who lives in Israel, told China Business News that there are not many friends around her who have not been infected with New Guinea virus, and that she has seen people around her with the disease, so people are not worried.

In Israel, more than 6.7 million people have received at least one dose of the new crown vaccine, and the country's third dose rate has now reached 56.7 per cent. Bennett has also received three doses of the new crown vaccine.

There was a lot of debate about whether to get a fourth dose in Israel, which took the first step, and even the Israeli Ministry of Health was a little hesitant at first.

On 22 December 2021, an advisory panel of experts from the Israeli Ministry of Health recommended a fourth dose of the New Crown vaccine for people over 60 years of age and medical personnel, more than four months after the third dose.

Professor Galia Rahav, a member of the advisory panel, said that the decision was not easy to make because there is no complete data on the effectiveness of the fourth dose of the vaccine, "It's the same situation as when the third dose was introduced, but at the same time the data on the global epidemic is very scary. If you don't act now, you miss the opportunity to get on board." A research paper in the journal Immunity at the time showed that the fourth dose may not have improved immunity as much as the first and second doses.

EyalLeshem, an infectious disease specialist at Israel's Sheba Medical Centre, also said that in the long run, two or three doses of the New Crown vaccine would provide good protection against serious illness for most people.

He also pointed out that if the mutated strains become less powerful in the future and become "flu-ized", it is likely that additional doses will not be necessary.

However, the CGE's recommendation was not quickly approved by the Israeli Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health said they needed to think about it. But finally, on 2 January, Bennett announced that the fourth dose had been approved by the Ministry of Health.

The Israeli Ministry of Health said that their final decision was based on two considerations. The first was that epidemiological studies had shown that the risk of infection in people over 60 years of age tripled four months after vaccination, and that omicron had a greater ability to escape. Studies by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that the level of immunity from vaccine boosters decreases over time.

The next highest level of antibodies was seen in health care workers who were vaccinated first, with a fourfold increase in antibody levels and no significant adverse effects one week after the fourth dose.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to soon approve a fourth dose of the vaccine for people over 50 years of age as well. According to the CDC, the effectiveness of the third dose of the vaccine in preventing hospitalisation of patients dropped to 78% by the fourth month.

In response, US infectious disease expert Fauci said that the 78% effectiveness rate is still a very safe range and that it is not the right time to fully roll out the fourth dose of the vaccine; for immunocompetent people, the third dose provides a high level of protection. However, immunocompromised people should receive a fourth dose, as the vaccine does not provide sufficient immune activation in their bodies and further boosting is needed.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has even recently recommended that a further autumn booster, a fifth dose of the vaccine, should be laid out in the UK. The public may then once again ask how many doses of the new crown vaccine the average person will need to survive the new crown outbreak unscathed.