Israel won’t wait for US clearance to apply third dose of coronavirus vaccine

The director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health, Najman Ash, said on Monday that “the possibility of not waiting for the authorization of the American regulatory agencies for the application of the third dose against the coronavirus”.

Speaking to Army Radio (Galei IDF), the official said the decision would be made on the basis that “Israel is the first country to experience a reduction in vaccine effectiveness.”

The number of serious detainees per coronavirus it continues to rise in Israel and this morning the country’s health ministry reported that 1,398 people have tested positive in the past 24 hours, and the positivity rate stood at 2.08%, after that 67,676 tests were evaluated.

There are currently 108 serious cases in this country, including 20 under artificial respiration. In total, there are 199 hospitalized for COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, 6,461 people have died in Israel, in the past 30 months have lost their lives.

Third dose: yes or no?

On July 8, the Pfizer company announced that it would seek clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer a third dose of its covid vaccine as a booster.

The European Union, which is also evaluating this possibility, has already signed contracts with Pfizer and Moderna to expand their supplies in 2022 and 2023.

What could be seen as an additional means of protecting the population attracts much criticism from experts and international organizations, not so much because a booster dose will have to be added in the future, but because the debate today, when there are still many unknowns on the duration of immunity, and when millions of vulnerable people around the world have yet to receive a vaccine.

// The United States analyzes giving a third dose to the population at risk and presses the WHO to strengthen the vaccination against the coronavirus

The situation in Israel

In Israel, the vaccination campaign continues its course: 5.7 million received the first dose of the Pfizer formula and 5.2 million both injections.

In addition, 137 COVID-19 positives have returned from abroad in the past ten days, including 37 from Turkey, a country that will be part of the dangerous destinations starting this week. Another 19 entered from Greece, which is not considered a “dangerous destination”.

From next Thursday on “Green pass”, it will therefore be mandatory to present a vaccination certificate, having received a discharge or a negative result of a coronavirus test to enter any site of more than one hundred people.

From this midnight a new regulation will be put in place by which the companions of passengers who leave or return from abroad will not be able to enter the Ben Gurion airport. The decision was made for fear of entry of new strains and by the increase in coronavirus cases.

The entrance to Delta Plus variant from Georgia, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. This strain has another mutation in the Spike protein, which can lead to faster spread of the virus and “facilitate” entry into human cells.

Among the characteristics of the Delta Plus strain, it exhibits greater human-to-human transmission, stronger binding in lung cell receptors, and possible reduced antibody response in the body.