Covid-19 second booster : Effect of fourth shot wears off quickly -Israeli health expert

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Ynetnews) Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, said a couple of days ago in an interview with Ynetnews although officials are satisfied with the results reported about the effects of the fourth coronavirus shot, they expected more from the second booster.

“The preliminary results showed a five-fold increase in antibody levels, it’s good news, but it’s not enough, we were hoping for better results,” Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay told Ynet.

Prof. Regev agreed with the claim that the frequency of vaccinations and the need for an additional dose every few months is problematic and said, “our initial results, which, of course, haven’t been published yet, show an increase in antibodies, which is quite predictable but not very impressive.”

“A five-fold increase is good, but it’s not enough, it does not give the same effect as the first booster shot. If these results bring us back to antibodies level of approximately four months ago, then it means we will need to get vaccinated every four months, and that’s not the goal,” said Prof. Regev.

Prof. Regev also mentioned she thinks giving the elderly and the immunosuppressed the fourth dose is a good move since it does increase the antibodies levels. But in order to approve it for the entire population more time and more information are still needed.

“We monitor the effect of the [fourth] vaccine by checking how many people get sick and how much the vaccine is really effective, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty about what’s right, and we still have a lot to learn.”

With information from Ynetnews