Third dose: Israel to start vaccinating people over 12 years old | Amid regrowth of cases due to the Delta variant

The government of Israel announced this Sunday that lowered the minimum age for receiving the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to 12 years old. Currently, the country is experiencing an epidemic of cases caused by the Delta variant which has forced the reintroduction of sanitary measures.

“Today, we are extending the possibility of receiving the booster, that is to say the third inoculation of the vaccine, to the entire population, as long as five months have passed since the second doseThe director general of the Ministry of Health, Nachman Ash, said at a press conference.

The measure was also announced by the Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz, through a message on his Twitter account. Also, the official underlined “the effectiveness of the reinforcement” according to “the last studies”, and urged all the citizens to be vaccinated.

The dispute over the third dose

In early August, Israel began vaccinating people over the age of 60 with a booster dose of the vaccine produced by Pfizer / BioNTech, then gradually lowering the age limit.

However, World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly called for prioritize immunization in poor countries, where the percentage of the population vaccinated against the virus is still very low.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett argued that the administration of this strengthening in the country, with its nine million inhabitants, this would not affect the global stocks of vaccines and, on the contrary, would make it possible to test the effectiveness of this third dose.

More than 5.4 million people have received two doses of the vaccine in this country, 58% of its population and more than 1.9 million and a third.

On August 24, Israel passed one million cases since the start of the pandemic. In total, more than 6,950 people have died from covid-19.

The inoculation of a third dose has already been carried out by countries such as Germany, the United States – for immunocompromised people – France, the United Kingdom and Russia. In Latin America, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay do the same, but only for those who have received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine, which is less effective than other drugs.

Israel started applying the third dose at the end of July, to people who are immunocompromised and over 60 years old, in order to gradually widen the age range until it is now available to all over 12 years old.

According to the Ministry of Health, Israel surpasses the figure of two million people with the third dose. The only requirement to receive it is that five months have passed since the second dose, which in Israel has received around 5.5 million people since inoculation with Pfizer began last December, although around 1.1 million Israelis have given up on being vaccinated.

“The third vaccine makes it possible to stop the epidemic, from today it is open to everyone. Go get vaccinated so that we can celebrate the holidays together,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also said. on his Twitter account about the upcoming Jewish community festivities. New Years from next week.