Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas asked the national government’s task force against COVID-19 to start studying the possibility of administering fourth vaccine doses to Filipinos.
“Israel has reported that their citizens given fourth dose of mRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna) have proved to have greater antibodies as protection against COVID-19,” Treñas said on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
“Perhaps, our officials under the IATF should start studying the possibility of preparing for a fourth dose of vaccines for our population as we prepare for the fight against the virus. I ask the IATF to start studying the options available under the circumstances,” he further said.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the fourth dose boosts antibodies fivefold a week after the shot was administered.
“A week into the fourth dose, we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” Bennett said at Sheba Medical Center, which is giving second booster shots in a trial among its staff amid a nationwide surge in Omicron variant infections.
“The second piece of news: We know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a fivefold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” he told reporters.
“This most likely means a significant increase against infection and … hospitalization and (severe) symptoms,” Bennett said.
Israel has played a leading role in studying the effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as the fastest country to roll out two-dose inoculations to a wide population a year ago and one of the first to give third shots as boosters.
It is now administering fourth doses to people over 60, health workers, and immunocompromised patients.IMT (with a report from AFP)
