Israel has led the way with COVID-19 vaccination and now it’s paying dividends. A new study of more than 40,000 Israelis over the age of 60, shows that a fourth vaccine protected 72 percent for death. The participants were all nursing home residents, where COVID can spread like wildfire.

Published in the prestigious JAMA Internal Medicine journal, the joint Tel Aviv University and Ben Gurion University of the Negev study, in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Health, found that the Pfizer vaccine kept elderly people from succumbing to the Omicron COVID variant.

“This is a groundbreaking and innovative study based on a database of the elderly population in care facilities,” said Prof. Khitam Muhsen of the School of Public Health at Tel Aviv University. “We monitored the infections, hospitalizations and mortality rates throughout the Omicron wave, and found that the members of the group that received the fourth vaccine were infected at a rate that was 34 percent less than the control group; were hospitalized for mild-to-moderate illness 64 percent less, and for severe illness 67 percent less than the control group; and had a mortality rate that was 72 percent less than the group vaccinated with only the first three doses.”

“We assume that the fourth dose of the vaccine boosted the level of neutralizing antibodies, which conferred cross-protection against the Omicron variant,” said Muhsen. “Our study points to the significant benefit of administering the fourth dose of the vaccine, and confirms that the policy adopted by the State of Israel was the correct one.”

“The decision to vaccinate at-risk populations with the fourth dose was a wise choice that saved a lot of human lives,” she concluded.