– They want everything from asymptomatic infection, to serious disease, says Asher Salmon at a digital press conference with the international press on Monday afternoon.
It was Wednesday last week set a new infection record in Israel, with almost 12,000 cases of infection in one day. The country is in a fifth wave of infection, which is driven by the more infectious omicron variant.
Due to the contagion situation, Israel last week started offering a fourth dose of vaccine to anyone over the age of 60, in addition to health professionals. From before, people with weakened immune systems have also been offered a fourth dose.
Do omikron surveys: – Very uncertain
– Of course we are worried
Salmon says that they will assess the effect of the fourth dose on the admission rate and infection rates, before possibly expanding the offer to other groups in society.
When asked if they are worried about giving a fourth dose, without having good data on long-term side effects, he answers:
– Of course we are worried. That is why we do not offer the fourth dose to everyone, but only high-risk groups. Usually, such a process would take a couple of years of clinical study. But we are facing an emergency, says Salmon.
Israel is currently conducting major clinical trials among people who have received the fourth dose.
Salmon estimates that within two to three weeks they will have more reliable indications of how effective the fourth dose is in reducing the infection.
– This is data that will benefit the rest of the world, he says.
Preliminary study: Fivefold increase in antibodies
He also believes that 2022 will be the last year corona could be called a pandemic.
– In the future, I do not think it will be feasible to vaccinate people against corona more than once a year. I think it should be combined with the flu vaccination every autumn.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke last week about the results of a preliminary study of the fourth dose of vaccine.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the study shows that the amount of antibodies can increase fivefold during the first week after the plug is inserted.
The researcher leading the study, Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, says these results indicate that the vaccine is effective in protecting against serious illness.
The Jerusalem Post writes that more than 100,000 people either booked a vaccine class for the fourth dose, or received a fourth dose, last Monday.
75 percent of the Israeli population has received at least one vaccine dose.
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