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Third dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine boosts protection in people over 60

A growing number of countries are beginning to embrace the concept of COVID-19 boosters, although vaccination campaigns remain at an early stage in much of the world.

By Brian Buntz | August 30, 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md. DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando.

Israeli researchers report that an additional dose of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech’s (NISDQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine leads to notable improvements in immunity in people 60 and older.

The protection against infection increased fourfold 10 days after administration of the third dose, according to scientists at the Gertner Institute (Ramat Gan, Israel) and KI Institute (Kfar Malal, Israel). In addition, patients who received a third dose had four to six times greater protection against severe illness and hospitalization.

In people over 60, a third dose was 86% effective in protecting against infection.

The country began distributing booster doses for people over 60 on July 30. In addition, Israel has recently made booster doses available to people 30 and older who had received the third dose at least five months prior.

The 7-day average COVID-19 case count in Israel recently exceeded 8,700 daily infections, marking a new record for one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.

Researchers in Israel have previously concluded that vaccination tends to offer diminishing protection over time. In July, researchers concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided 40.5% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 but 88% protection against hospitalization.

The spread of the Delta variant likely contributed to the attenuated protection.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has consistently predicted that COVID-19 boosters would be required.


Filed Under: Infectious Disease, Uncategorized
Tagged With: BioNTech, coronavirus, covid-19, COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine trial, COVID-19 vaccines, Israel, Pfizer
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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