Booster vaccines: New data support high efficacy

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After data from Israel had already suggested effectiveness among over-60s, the same could now be shown for all age groups.

In Israel, as is well known, administration of the Corona booster vaccines began comparatively early. They also rolled out the booster vaccines to the entire population (over-12s) before any other country. A corresponding amount of data is now available there on the effectiveness of the third-party vaccinations.

On Thursday, a group of researchers led by biologist Yinon M. Bar-On of the Weizmann Institute of Science now published results for the first time on the effect of the booster doses in all age groups.

They analyzed data from the Israeli Ministry of Health for the period from July 30, 2021, to Oct. 6, 2021. In total, information material from over four million people was included in the survey.

Confirmed corona infections, severe disease progression, and deaths in people who had received a booster vaccination from Biontech/Pfizer 12 or more days ago (booster group) were compared with corresponding data from a group that had not received a booster.

Booster works
The researchers concluded that rates of confirmed infections and severe illness were significantly lower in the booster group across all age groups.

Specifically, rates of confirmed infections were 10-fold lower in the booster group than in the non-booster group. Rates of severe illness were 18.7-fold lower in the over-60 age group and 22.0-fold lower in the 40- to 60-year-old age group.

In the over-60 age group, Covid-19-associated mortality rates were 14.7-fold lower.

Across all age groups, rates of confirmed infection and severe illness were substantially lower among those who received a booster dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine.

Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 7, 2021
A few weeks ago, researchers from Israel had already published efficacy data on the third sting in the New England Journal of Medicine. They analyzed data from more than one million people over the age of 60. Those vaccinated only twice against coronavirus had ten times more infections than those in this age group who had received the booster vaccine. In addition, severe disease courses occurred 20 times more frequently in those vaccinated twice than in subjects with triple vaccination protection.