This is according to a study by Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and the Ministry of Health, which included 40,000 residents in the “Magen Avot VeIhmot” program
A new study by Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion Negev Universities in collaboration with the Ministry of Health states: The fourth vaccine against the corona virus is effective in protecting the elderly population in nursing homes from the Omicron strain. The groundbreaking study included about 40,000 elderly Israelis living in institutions that are supervised by the Ministry of Health’s “Magen Avot VeAhotamot.” According to the results of the study, elderly people at risk vaccinated with the fourth dose of Pfizer have a 34% reduced risk of contracting the omicron strain, a reduced risk of 64% to 67% need hospitalization due to corona and a reduced risk of 72% dying from the disease.
The study was led by Prof. Khatam Mohsen and Prof. Danny Cohen of the School of Public Health at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Ron Dagan of Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Nimrod Maimon, Chair of the Internal Medicine Division at Soroka Hospital, and until recently head of the Magen Avot & Mothers program “Of the Ministry of Health, as well as members of the program staff Ami Mizrahi, Omri Bodenheimer, Boris Blinstaki, in collaboration with Leah Gaon and Tzafrira Hillel-Diamant from the Department of Geriatrics at the Ministry of Health. The study was published in the prestigious journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Particularly vulnerable population
“Our study compared 24,088 residents of Magen Avot and Mothers’ institutions who received Pfizer’s fourth vaccine – that is, the second booster, compared with 19,687 residents who were vaccinated with the first three doses four months or more before starting follow-up but chose not to receive the second booster. “, Explains Prof. Khatam Muhsin. “These are residents of geriatric institutions, nursing homes and sheltered housing that are included in the Ministry of Health ‘Magen Avot VeAhotamot’ system, a total of about 1,000 institutions across the country. The fact that many tenants need help in carrying out day-to-day operations is due to the background diseases of many of the tenants. “
When the Omicron wave spread in Israel, between January and March this year, there was no registered and available vaccine for this strain, which underwent significant mutations in the “spike” protein that allows the virus to attach and penetrate human cells. Since the existing vaccines against corona are directed against the spike protein, in Israel as in the rest of the world there has been a discussion about the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the omicron strain in general, and in particular about the question of giving a second booster dose. Israel was the first country to approve the second booster dose (fourth vaccine dose) for those aged 60 and over. The present study is based on data from the database of the “Shield Fathers and Mothers” population that constituted the first large group to which the second booster was given. Prof. Mohsen emphasizes that the new study is a study on a national scale, and that the study has successfully addressed methodological problems that characterize observational epidemiological studies on the effectiveness of corona vaccines.
Cross-protection also against the omicron strain
Prof. Mohsan: “We followed the infections, hospitalizations and mortality in these two groups during the omicron wave, and found that the group that received the fourth vaccine was infected at a reduced rate of 34% than the control group, hospitalized with mild to moderate severity at 64%, hospitalized with a serious illness 67% less than the control group and reduced mortality by 72% less than the group vaccinated with only the first three vaccines. We believe that the fourth vaccine dose created and increased the level of neutralizing antibodies, which also conferred cross-protection against the omicron strain. “Fourth was a wise decision, which saved a lot of lives.”
“This is a groundbreaking and innovative study based on a database of the elderly population in sheltered institutions. Previous studies have been conducted in the general population, and therefore also in relatively young populations with an average age of around 72 years, with the average age in our study being 80 years. People who are going to be tested or vaccinated against corona tend to exhibit positive health behaviors, so it is very difficult to compare their morbidity levels to morbidity levels among unvaccinated people or those who have been vaccinated in three doses. The groups in our study underwent routine and ‘blind’ corona tests performed according to a uniform protocol of ‘protective fathers and mothers’ – regardless of receiving the vaccine. .
According to Prof. Danny Cohen, “the study indicates that boosting and raising the level of antibodies through a vaccine based on the original corona virus strain provides significant protection against the onset of a serious disease even after infection with new variants, and even far from the original, such as the omicron.”
Prof. Nimrod Maimon adds that “the task of protecting the institutions for out-of-home housing is a very important part of the Magen Israel program of the Ministry of Health. The database built and accumulated in the project regarding the institutions and tenants “The corona among the residents of the institutions. These impressive results of the ‘Shield of Fathers and Mothers’ program have received widespread international response, as have inquiries from health authorities in many countries around the world who have sought to learn from the program.” Prof. Ron Dagan concludes that the results presented in this article once again demonstrate the critical role of vaccines, using structured and effective systems in curbing waves of severe morbidity and mortality in at-risk populations.
To the scientific paper
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