The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was conducted by the ministry, three leading Israeli universities and the Sheba Medical Center, Israel&#39;s largest hospital. 
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Using the ministry database, the researchers extracted data on 1,252,331 persons who were 60 years of age or older and eligible for a fourth dose.

It was conducted during a period in which the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was predominant, between January 10 and March 2 in 2022.

Except for the three-fold lower severe illness rate among the fourth-dose vaccinated, it was found that the protection did not decline throughout the study&#39;s eight-week period.

The rate of verified COVID-19 cases among the fourth-dose vaccinated people was twice as low as the three-dose group, but protection against confirmed infection appeared short-lived, according to the study.

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4th COVID-19 vaccine dose triples protection against severe illness in people over 60: Israeli study

A new comprehensive Israeli study has found that a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose triples the protection against severe illness in people aged 60 and over, compared with three-dose protection, the Israeli Health Ministry said Tuesday.