Israeli researchers reported on Saturday that three doses of the Pfizer vaccine provided significant protection against the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Pfizer/BioNTech had recently provided similar results, indicating that a booster dose of the vaccine might be necessary to protect against infection with the Omicron variant.
The study, conducted by "Sheba Medical Center" and the "Central Virology Laboratory" of the Israeli Ministry of Health, compared the blood of 20 individuals who received two vaccine doses five or six months ago with the blood of a similar number of individuals who received a booster dose a month ago.
Gili Regev Yochay, director of the "Infectious Diseases Unit" at Sheba Medical Center, told reporters: "Those who received the second dose five or six months ago have no ability to neutralize Omicron, while they have some ability against the Delta variant." She added: "The good news is that the booster dose increases the body's resistance to the Omicron variant by about 100 times. The booster dose provides significant protection against Omicron. It is about four times less than the neutralizing ability against Delta."
This Israeli research follows a study from South Africa that found the Omicron variant could infect those who received two vaccine doses.
