Israel announced it will start applying third dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to adults at risk

Israel announced on Sunday that it would begin offering a third dose of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine to adults with weakened immune systems, but stressed it was still weighing whether to make the booster available to them. the general population.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant has boosted immunization rates in Israel again, as new infections have risen in the past month from around 450 per day, and the country has stepped up to speed up the next shipment from Pfizer.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said adults with weakened immune systems who have received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be eligible for a booster and a decision on wider distribution is pending.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE, the main providers of the rapid deployment of Israel’s vaccination campaign that began in December, said Thursday that they will ask American and European regulators in the coming weeks to authorize the booster injections.

Companies cited an increased risk of infection after six months to seek authorization for a third injection.

“We are examining this question and we still do not have a definitive answer,” Horowitz told Kan public radio of a boost for the general population in Israel. “In any case, we are now giving a third vaccine to people with immunodeficiency.”

About half of the 46 critically ill patients currently hospitalized in Israel are vaccinated, and the majority belong to risk groups, according to health officials. Some 5.7 million of Israel’s 9.3 people have received at least one dose.

Last Friday, Israel He reimposed this Friday the compulsory wearing of masks indoors, a measure he had withdrawn ten days ago, given the increase in cases due to the Delta variant The national pandemic coordinator, Nachman ash, I declare that does not believe the country is in a fourth wave of infections, but supported the measure by the increase in the positivity rate and the number of cases, which exceeded 200 on Friday, the highest since April.

Masks in “unopened” spaces will again be compulsory, and those under 7, the disabled, those who are alone in the closed place, employees who work in the same room and people who carry out an activity will be exempt. .athletic.

Also, Salud tries accelerate the vaccination of minors between 12 and 15 years old.

Even with a low figure, the rising morbidity rate worries Israeli authorities who have enhanced monitoring of the quarantine of those returning from abroad, as well as fines for those who do not comply.

The country has closed its external borders to tourists since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, which began to ease in late May for groups of vaccinated with prior authorization., in order to avoid the changes that broke into the country’s epidemiological situation, which was under control until two weeks ago.

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