At the start of today's cabinet meeting, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, "If the public continues to get vaccinated in large numbers, and if we continue to wear masks properly, and if we continue to behave responsibly, we will celebrate the holidays freely with our families. 1.4 million Israelis have already has their third booster vaccination.
He continued, "I think that most people still don't understand that the people most vulnerable, paradoxically, are those that have had two vaccination doses and go around with the feeling that they are protected, because they've had two doses, but don't understand that the two doses have faded against the Delta variant and that they need to quickly get vaccinated with the third dose. Those who haven't got vaccinated at all have been aware of this for 18 months probably, when they are sitting in an enclosed room but the weak link at the moment, for the first time, is the middle aged, and that's where we are seeing the rise."
Bennett said that the plan is to open the school year on time on September 1 and that the day before going back to school every child will receive a test kit and parents will be obligated to sign that their child has tested negative, before sending them to school.
Bennett said that there is huge international interest in Israel's vaccination booster rollout. "I want to tell you that in every conversation I have with world leaders and I have three or four such conversations every week, when the subject of Covid comes up, they want guidance and the conversation can carry on for another half an hour, because that's the subject that they are preoccupied with, and they genuinely want to learn from us, and we of course cooperate on this matter.
"Israel has a major advantage today because we are world pioneers in using the third vaccination, and we have a better understanding about the rate at which the previous vaccinations are waning, and what we need to do, when we need to do it, and even for what ages. My advice to every world leader today is and I tell them: start the third vaccination straight away, don't wait. Give it five months from the second vaccination - otherwise you will have false illusions about protection."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 22, 2021
Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021