Israel finds fourth vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold; Violence at pandemic protests in Germany

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, ‘This most likely means a significant increase against infection and … hospitalisation and (severe) symptoms’

Israel has played a leading role in studying the effects of Covid-19 vaccines, rolling out second, third and fourth inoculations or boosters

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A Covid-19 testing centre outside the Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, which has found that a fourth dose of vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:39am, 5 Jan 2022Updated: 1:36am, 5 Jan 2022

A fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday, citing preliminary findings of an Israeli study.

“A week into the fourth dose we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” Bennett said at Sheba Medical Centre, which is giving second booster shots in a trial among its staff amid a nationwide surge in Omicron variant infections.

“The second piece of news: We know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a five-fold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” he told reporters.

“This most likely means a significant increase against infection and … hospitalisation and (severe) symptoms,” Bennett said in English.

Israel has played a leading role in studying the effects of Covid-19 vaccines, as the fastest country to roll out two-dose inoculations to a wide population a year ago and one of the first to give third shots as boosters. It is now administering fourth doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to people over 60, health workers and immunocompromised patients.

Police officers and protesters in Germany during a demonstration against measures to contain the coronavirus. Photo: dpa