Israeli scientists said today that the antibodies in the 4th booster shot of Pfizer’s coronavirus shot are not high enough to protect people against the Omicron variant. According to the Jerusalem Post, researchers at Sheba Medical Center studied 150 healthy healthcare workers that were given all four vaccine shots in late December. When examined in early January, the results were them not having enough antibodies to protect from infection.

Scientists state that even people given four COVID-19 inoculations can still get infected and even a third shot didn’t work a despite an increased antibody count. Similar research will be conducted with the same amount of healthcare employees on Moderna’s vaccine too.

However, the study’s lead researcher, Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, did stress to The Post the findings are preliminary and it was too early to understand the results of the 4th inoculation. She said the findings were released due to the importance of informing the public but pointed out the vaccines were very effective against the Alpha and Delta variants..

Simultaneously, Regev-Yochay told the Jerusalem Post she supported Israel’s giving 60 year old people and other at-risk individuals a 4th shot, though the vaccines may not offer enough protection to justify giving it to Israel’s entire population.

Despite it having the highest vaccination rates in the world, COVID-19 infections have run rampant with the appearance of the Omicron variant. It makes sense to administer immunizations to at risk populations, but by the time vaccines manufactured are made available to adequately protect the population at large against Omicron, even if the vaccines are expedited, it will be too late.

While the Omicron variant is spreading very quickly, its symptoms are milder than its illustrious predecessors. With all of the above information in mind, the best scenario is for the remaining population to contract COVID-19 which would result in herd immunity and essentially eradicating the coronavirus while, simultaneously ending the pandemic.

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