By Josh Plank, World Israel News -
Volunteers who received a high dose of the BriLife coronavirus vaccine in clinical trials have been notified that they do not yet need a third dose, indicating that Israel’s homegrown vaccine may be more effective than that of Pfizer, N12 News reported Saturday.
N12‘s Yoav Even reported that he is one of 230 Israelis who received two high-dose shots of BriLife six months ago.
The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), the government-run laboratory that developed the vaccine, has been analyzing monthly blood samples from the volunteers and has notified them that they currently do not need to take a third dose.
“The reason for these notifications is that, unlike Pfizer, apparently there is no decline in the effectiveness against infection with the Israeli vaccine. And even though this vaccine is still experimental, this is definitely good news,” Even said.
Meanwhile, the volunteers who received a medium dose of the Israeli vaccine have been notified that the dose they received is ineffective against the coronavirus.
According to Even, those who received a medium dose were thanked for “volunteering in the national effort” and advised to now take the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Volunteers who received a low dose of BriLife were notified several months ago that they needed a Pfizer or Moderna shot.
BriLife is a self-propagating, live-virus vaccine, unlike the mRNA vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.
According to IIBR, BriLife uses a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) which has been genetically modified to express the spike protein of the coronavirus.
Last week, the Ministry of Health approved a plan to administer a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine to individuals aged 40 and older, healthcare staff, teaching staff, caregivers of older adults, and pregnant women of all ages if at least five months have passed since their second dose.
“Israel is the pioneer of the third dose of the vaccines against the COVID virus. We’re seeing profound effectiveness, efficacy of the vaccines,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Friday.
Last month, Israel began administering a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals and those aged 60 and older.
In early July, the Ministry of Health announced a decline in the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine. “Starting June 6th, the effectiveness of the vaccine decreased to 64% in preventing infection and 64% in preventing symptomatic illness,” the ministry said.
