COVID-19 Scan for Apr 26, 2022

Fourth COVID vaccine dose tied to 78% lower risk of death in older IsraelisIsraelis aged 60 and older given a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine amid the Omicron surge had a 64% lower risk of hospitalization and 78% lower risk of death than those who received three doses, suggests an observational study published yesterday in Nature Medicine.Clalit Health Services researchers compared the outcomes of 328,597 patients who received a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose with those of 234,868 patients who received three doses.

Israelis 60 and older who had received a third dose at least 4 months before became eligible for a fourth dose on Jan 3, 2022, and study follow-up began 1 week later.

Average patient age was 73.0 years, and 53% were women.In the fourth-dose group, 270 patients were hospitalized, compared with 550 in the three-dose group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.31 to 0.43).

Ninety-two fourth-dose patients died, as did 232 third-dose recipients (adjusted HR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.28).Risk factors for death included age 70 to 79 (HR, 2.24) and 80 to 100 (HR, 9.95), male sex (HR, 1.59), chronic heart failure (HR, 4.11), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (HR, 1.82), diabetes (HR, 2.06), and stroke (HR, 1.84).Risk factors for hospitalization included age 70 to 79 (HR, 1.82) and 80 to 100 (HR, 4.04), male sex (HR, 1.53), chronic heart failure (HR, 2.17), chronic kidney failure (HR, 2.27), COPD (HR, 2.24), diabetes (HR, 1.43), high blood pressure (HR, 1.39), ischemic heart disease (HR, 1.21), and stroke (HR, 1.43)."Although this study is observational in nature, we believe that its substantial findings and the observed potential for avoiding the most severe COVID-19