4th dose of Pfizer vaccine helps prevent infection among health workers

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Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Observational study: A study in which the subject is observed to see if there is a relationship between two or more things (eg: the consumption of diet drinks and obesity). Observational studies cannot prove that one thing causes another, only that they are linked.

People: This is a study based on research using people.

Having a fourth dose of Pfizer's COVID vaccine helped prevent infection according to a study of nearly 30,000 health workers in Israel. The study found that the rate of breakthrough infection was 7% in those who received 4 doses compared to 20% in the group who had only had 3 doses. The authors say this suggests that a fourth vaccine dose was effective in preventing breakthrough COVID-19 infections in health care workers, helping to maintain the function of the health care system during the pandemic.

Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open

Research: Paper

Organisation/s: Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Israel

Funder: Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Media release

From: JAMA

Association of Fourth Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Dose With SARS-CoV-2 Infection

JAMA Network Open
Original Investigation

Association of Receiving a Fourth Dose of the BNT162b Vaccine With SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Workers in Israel

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

About The Study: Researchers found that 4-dose recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had a lower risk of acquiring COVID-19 than 3-dose recipients during the peak Omicron variant wave in this study of 29,000 health care workers in Israel.

Authors: Allon E. Moses, M.D., of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, is the corresponding author.

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.24657)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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