Fourth-dose vaccine, Israel discontinued: Depends on the Omicon variant

Do you need the fourth dose of the vaccine? When? The prevalence of the Omicron variant, with infections flourishing in many countries, is fueling the debate. Is the third dose sufficient to bend the curve or will it be necessary to resort to another reinforcer, perhaps an upgrade, in a relatively short time? The questions are legitimate after Israel is reversed. The country, which has been at the forefront of a vaccination campaign so far and is considered a kind of “testing laboratory” by the rest of the world, has just flashed a red light: the fourth dose, which should have been given from Sunday to over 60s and health workers, for the time being. Still in the box.

The decision was made by the Israeli Ministry of Health, according to Channel 13. The director-general of the ministry, Nahman Asch, did not approve of the campaign after examining data from Great Britain that the Omicron type of coronavirus causes less serious diseases. Delta dynasty.

Israel was the first country in the world to allow a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine to be given and an appointment set. According to public broadcaster Kan, Ash will likely make a decision on the fourth dose of the vaccine by the middle of next week. Kan added that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wants to start administering the additional reinforcements as soon as possible, noting that Ash has the final say on the matter.

Across the Atlantic, the cautious line appears to be shared by Professor Anthony Fauci, principal advisor to the President of the United States, Joe Biden. “It’s too early to talk about a fourth dose. One of the things we’ll be watching closely is how long the protection lasts after the third dose of the mRna vaccine,” adds Fauci, retaining the conversation. Partially for people with severe immunodeficiency. Fauci stresses the importance of getting a booster dose right away – the third dose for those who have completed a normal course – for better protection against the virus. luxury or addition. It’s not, it’s really an essential part of the optimum protection you want.

In Italy, the subject was brought up by Undersecretary Pierpaolo Celeri. “Both extending the third dose to under 18s and giving a possible fourth dose – he explains – are hypotheses that need to be verified in light of the numbers that will emerge in the next few weeks about the prevalence of the Omicron variant and its potentially less aggressive nature, according to some Preliminary studies from South Africa and the United Kingdom”.

“If this alternative, as we all hope, leads to fewer hospitalizations and deaths – he adds – we will also have to understand whether this happens because it is less ‘bad’, or even because it finds a population with a well-founded vaccination. So It is necessary, now more than ever, to speed up with the first and third doses.”

Poker, according to Professor Massimo Galli, will come sooner or later. “I would say, though I’m sorry to say it, in a situation where over the course of a year we’ve had three different variables that have taken over the scene, the last of which is very different from the virus that the vaccines were on,” said Galli, former director of infectious diseases at Sacco Hospital in Milan. Manufactured, the third dose won’t be the last needed.”

What happened “leads me to think – emphasizes the expert – that it will develop into a situation where it will be periodically necessary to repeat, if things do not change, a vaccine may be prepared with new vaccines targeting the dominant variant, a little about the effect of the model.” Booster once a year with vaccine updates? “It’s one potential hypothesis that I think should be considered. But if there were any doubts ‘about the need to modify vaccines’ I think it would have been dispelled by the Omicron variant that has 32 mutations compared to the Wuhan virus which would justify on its own a vaccine development. new “.