Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced this evening that all Israelis who are 60 or over will be entitled to a third Covid vaccination from Sunday, as long as it is more than five months since their second vaccination. He said that President Isaac Herzog (60) will become the first Israel to receive the third jab as part of the campaign tomorrow.
Bennett's declaration follows the decision by the Ministry of Health experts committee on treating Covid to approve the third vaccination. Data from both Pfizer and the Ministry of Health has found that the effectiveness of the vaccination is waning due to a mixture of the time passed since most older Israelis received their second vaccination and the currently dominant Delta variant.
Bennett said, "Our policy is to avoid lockdowns if possible. We don't want to go back there because the lockdowns cost us NIS 200 billion."
"The experts committee voted by an overwhelming majority of 56 against 1 to vaccinate Israel's elderly population. Research shows that there is a fading of the effectiveness and we want to strengthen it anew and so I'm declaring this evening the start of the campaign to complete the third vaccination. The reality has proven that the vaccinations are safe and protect from severe morbidity and death and like the flu vaccination it must be taken again from time to time."
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to approve a third dose but the Israeli experts committee felt that the vaccine itself has been approved and can present no danger to those receiving it. Pfizer, which is eager to see the real-world results from the third shot rollout will provide Israel with the required number of doses.
A survey by Channel 11 KAN found that over 75% over over-60s who have received their first two vaccinations are prepared to receive a third shot.
The latest Ministry of Health figures show that the fourth wave of Covid-19 in Israel is continuing to spread. 2,165 new cases were found yesterday, a slight dip from 2,267 on Tuesday, the highest number of new cases since March, and up from 1,344 week-on-week. The number of serious cases has risen to 159 with 26 people on ventilators. Three people have died from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours bringing the total number of fatalities since the start of the pandemic to 6,463.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 29, 2021
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