According to a study, health professionals who received a fourth dose of Pfizer Inc.'s messenger RNA vaccine were significantly less likely to get COVID than their triple-vaccinated colleagues.
The findings, published Tuesday in the open access journal of the American Medical Association, are the latest to show the benefits of a second booster against Omicron breakthrough infections, according to Bloomberg. The authors of the study proposed that an extra dose be utilized to reduce medical staff shortages and save healthcare systems during times of crisis.
The study was conducted in Israel, where researchers were able to collect real-world data on vaccine efficacy due to a rapid vaccine roll-out. The country began administering a second booster dose to the elderly, health professionals, and individuals with weak immune systems in January.
With the introduction of the BA.5 Omicron variant, the United States is now considering whether to expand eligibility for second booster shots.
Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who received their fourth mRNA vaccine in January had a 7% probability of acquiring a new infection. Those who received three doses, the third of which was delivered towards the end of September, were infected at a 20% rate.
According to specialists, many Israeli medical workers skipped the fourth dose in January, assuming it wouldn't make a difference.
"The common assumption was that the combination of the Omicron variant's reduced virulence and the protection provided by the previous three vaccination doses offered no additional value for the fourth vaccine," they said. However, medical professionals claimed that such a difference is significant since "the quarantine and isolation of a large number of health-care employees may undermine the ability of the health system to function."
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