Israel Vaccine Advisory Committee Recommends Expanding '4th Dose' to All Adults

In Modi'in, central Israel, where the Omicron COVID-19 variant is rapidly spreading, medical staff from Clarit Health Services (CHS) administered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a child on the 2nd (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Israeli Ministry of Health's COVID-19 vaccine advisory committee has recommended a fourth dose (second booster shot) for the entire adult population.

According to foreign media including The Washington Post (WP) on the 25th (local time), the Israeli vaccine advisory committee, composed of experts, recommended expanding the fourth vaccine dose to all adults aged 18 and over on the morning of the same day.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Health's recent analysis, the resistance to severe illness in elderly people aged 60 and over who completed the fourth dose was 3 to 5 times higher compared to those who received the third dose. The fourth dose recipients also had twice the preventive effect against COVID-19 infection compared to the third dose recipients.

However, it has not yet been decided whether to proceed with the fourth dose for the entire population. Nitzan Horowitz, Israeli Minister of Health, said in a local radio interview the day before that the fourth dose for the elderly and other target groups "was a good measure," but "he does not think vaccination will be done for the entire population."

Israel began administering the fourth vaccine dose to immunocompromised individuals at the end of last month.