Live Updates: Israel trials 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine

JERUSALEM — Israel has begun trials of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine in what is believed to be the first study of its kind.

The trial began at Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv, with 150 medical personnel who received a booster dose in August receiving a fourth shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The staff receiving the additional dose were tested and found to have low antibody levels.

The trial came as Israeli officials have considered rolling out a second tranche of booster shots to its population as the country grapples with rising infections with the new omicron variant.

Prof. Jacob Lavee, former director of the heart transplant unit at Sheba, said “hopefully, we’ll be able to show here… that this fourth booster really provides protection against the omicron, which is highly needed.”

Israel rolled out a world-leading vaccination campaign early this year. Just over 4.2 million of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Israel has recorded at least 8,242 deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

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France sees over 100,000 daily infections for the 1st time

Go to https://APNews.com/coronavirus-pandemic for updates throughout the day.

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

BERLIN — Police in southern Germany say eight people were arrested after violence during a protest by opponents of coronavirus restrictions and vaccinations.

Eight officers were punched or kicked as groups of people tried to break though police...