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This interesting study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reports the advantage of taking a third (booster) shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In this Israeli study, the booster dose was administered to high-risk populations and people over the age of 60 five months after the second dose. The data shows that the rate of infection was reduced 11‑fold and the rate of severe illness reduced by over 19‑fold. The authors state that the enhanced immunity is conferred by the dramatic 10‑fold increase in the level of neutralizing antibodies produced in response to the third dose. Their findings clearly indicate the effectiveness of a booster dose against the Delta variant. Future studies will determine the long-term effects of the booster against current and emerging variants.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114255 Comments are closed.
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