News Roundup | Pfizer’s mRNA-based COVID-19 Vaccine Durability Problems Continue with Fourth Dose

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Israeli researchers tracking COVID-19 vaccination investigated the benefits of a fourth dose of BNT162b2, Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA vaccine in an effort to reduce the strains on the Israeli healthcare system brought by the Omicron (B.1.1.529) strain of COVID-19. The fourth booster dose was authored for persons aged 60 and above as well as high-risk populations and healthcare workers if over four months had passed since receiving a third (booster) dose. Tapping into the national database from the Israeli Ministry of Health, the team represented by corresponding author Dr. Yair Goldberg with Technion—Israel Institute of Technology sought to better understand the effectiveness of the fourth booster dose as compared to only three doses against confirmed infection as well as severe illness in a targeted study population of Israel-based elderly individuals. They found, unfortunately, that the durability of the BNT162b2 product remains a problem, given vaccine effectiveness wanes rapidly starting at week 5 after administration. While the protection against severe disease held, the study team only evaluated the product for six weeks which is, frankly, a serious limitation. The authors acknowledge a “modest” benefit to a fourth dose while not delving into other considerations such as safety.