Scientists from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center found that a fourth COVID vaccination or second booster shot may not be necessary for most people because it does not add strong protection.
The research was conducted by Gili Regev-Yochay et al.
As the pandemic has progressed, researchers have worked hard to develop vaccines to keep people from getting sick and therapies to help those afflicted.
As a result, vaccines were developed by several companies that proved to prevent serious infections.
Booster shots of the same vaccines were then found to provide protection again months later as the immune response to the vaccines waned.
Since that time, many people have wondered if they will need another booster shot as protection from the first booster starts to wane. In this new effort, the researchers sought to find the answer.
Israel is one of the few countries that has not waited to find out if a fourth shot is needed. Officials there have begun making second boosters available to those who want them.
In the study, the team compared people who were given a second booster shot with people who were not.
They recruited 1,000 healthcare workers who were fully vaccinated and who had received a booster shot. Two-hundred seventy-four received a second booster; the rest served as a control group.
The researchers then measured antibody levels for all of the people and found that while the second booster did increase protection slightly, it was not by enough to justify its use—at least at this time.
They also found that the second booster did not activate T cells. They believe that most people are still adequately protected from their first three shots.
Still, the researchers do suggest that older people and those at risk for other reasons get a second booster if they can.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about new ways to predict who will get severe COVID-19 and die, and why people with blood Type O less likely to get COVID-19.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about new drug that could prevent COVID-19, and results showing that aspirin, common anti-inflammatory drugs may prevent COVID-19 deaths.
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