Difference in absolute risk for three versus four doses was 180.1 and 68.8 cases per 100,000 for COVID-19-related hospitalization, severe COVID-19<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, April 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) — A fourth dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine is effective for reducing the risk for COVID-19-related outcomes in the short term, according to a study published online April 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ori Magen, M.D., from the Clalit Research Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel, and colleagues used data recorded by the largest health care organization in Israel from Jan. 3 to Feb. 18, 2022, to examine the early effectiveness of a fourth dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine for prevention of COVID-19-related outcomes. The primary analysis included 182,122 pairs aged 60 years or older, who had and had not received a fourth dose, individually matched for multiple sociodemographic and clinical variables.<\/p>\n The researchers found that during days 7 to 30 after the fourth dose, the relative vaccine effectiveness was estimated to be 45, 55, 68, 62, and 74 percent against polymerase chain reaction-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, symptomatic COVID-19, COVID-19-related hospitalization, severe COVID-19, and COVID-19-related death, respectively. The corresponding estimates were 52, 61, 72, 64, and 76 percent during days 14 to 30 after the fourth dose. For COVID-19-related hospitalization and for severe COVID-19, the difference in absolute risk (three versus four doses) during days 7 to 30 after a fourth vaccine dose was 180.1 and 68.8 cases per 100,000 persons, respectively.<\/p>\n “It is now incumbent on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine who most benefits from booster dosing,” writes the author of an accompanying editorial.<\/p>\n Several study authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, including Pfizer.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text<\/a><\/p>\n