When the Omicron wave of COVID hit, Israel was the world’s first nation to start giving second booster shots to citizens over 60, younger people at risk, and medical staff. No other countries were giving second boosters back then, and until early March, no less an authority than the World Health Organization opposed it.
So it was something of a gamble – but one that paid off big time, in saved lives. According to statistical research by Clalit Health Services and Sapir College, that fourth vaccination reduced elders’ chances of death by 78%.
Researchers crunched anonymized data from 563,465 Israelis aged 60+, 58% of whom received a second booster. After adjusting the data for demographic factors and preexisting illnesses, they concluded that the added booster “demonstrated a substantial reduction in COVID-19 mortality…”
How substantial? Among participants aged 60 to 69, there were just five deaths among the 111,776 people who got second boosters, versus ten times as many (51) among the 74,717 who didn’t. Among 82,165 people 80 to 100 years old who got second boosters, 65 died, compared to 149 deaths among the unvaccinated 36,365.
While that fourth shot wasn’t all that effective at preventing infection, it was really effective at reducing deaths.
Now that Americans can get second boosters, does that mean you should? That’s an individual decision for you and your doctor to make. And at Senior Insights, we’re very big on individual decisions – along with individual needs, and individual choices and values. That’s why the first thing we do with a new client is to conduct a thorough, three-part needs assessment, covering not only the client’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and psychological health, but also the clients’ and their families’ preferences and priorities. With that individual information in hand, we can then design a holistic, coordinated senior care management plan custom-tailored to each individual we serve.
So if you have any questions about that fourth COVID shot, call your doctor’s office. And if you have any questions about person-based senior care, contact us.