Israeli hospital planning to join global trial of Pfizer’s Omicron vaccine – report
Sheba Medical Center said to be readying to participate in study; trial to consist of those over 60 who haven’t yet had 2nd booster shot, mainly staff members and their families
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An Israeli hospital is to participate in a global trial by Pfizer and BioNTech of a vaccine specifically targeting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with the first shots to be given out at the end of the month, the Ynet website reported Sunday.
Talks have been held over the past several weeks between the pharmaceutical companies and Health Ministry officials, the report said. The trial is to be carried out at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
The hospital has already reportedly begun looking for volunteers to take part in the trial, with a specific set of requirements for those who can participate.
Most of the volunteers are to be those over 60 who have not yet had a fourth shot of the existing Pfizer vaccine Israel is using for its national inoculation program.
In addition, the volunteers must have been under serological monitoring since the start of the country’s vaccine program at the end of 2020.
Most of those who will participate will therefore be hospital staff and their family members, according to the report.
The hospital is currently waiting for the agreement to be finalized and to get approval for the trial from the Health Ministry’s Helsinki Committee.
The highly contagious Omicron variant has driven Israel’s fifth wave of COVID-19, which saw record infections rates. Though the wave has recently begun to wane, there were still over a thousand people hospitalized in serious condition according to Health Ministry figures released Sunday.
However, there is a concern at the Health Ministry that the trial may reduce interest in the second vaccine booster shot — the fourth shot in total — currently available to many, as people may opt to wait for a future Omicron-specific shot.
There has already been a slide in the number of people getting vaccine shots after the government earlier the month canceled the Green Pass certification system which made access to public venues easier for those who aren’t vaccinated or recovered, and also followed an easing in quarantine and virus testing rules for children and teens.
On Friday a source familiar with the developments told Ynet: “We were Pfizer’s ‘natural partners,’ and it makes a lot of sense that they would choose us now. Because most of the population here has already been vaccinated, they want to test the Omicron vaccine as a booster,” the source said.
Israel was one of the first countries in the world to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines, which are currently available to anyone over the age of five. The country was able to secure the millions of doses it needed in a deal with Pfizer that included providing the company with data on how effective the vaccines were among Israeli citizens.
Israel was the first to offer a booster shot to all those over 12 and last month a Health Ministry advisory panel suggested making a second booster available to over 18-year-olds. The fourth shot is currently being given to those over 60.
Last month Pfizer and BioNTech said they were seeking enrollment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine. Those volunteers were reportedly to come from the US.
The Times of Israel Community.