Israel clears third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for general population

Israel announced today that it is expanding the application of the third dose to the entire vaccine-eligible population, which in the country affects people over 12 years of age. “From today, the third dose is accessible to all”Health Ministry Director General Nachman Ash, who heads Israel’s strategy against covid-19, told a press conference.

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

According to the Ministry of Health, Israel will now exceed two million people with the third dose.

The only requirement for receiving it is that five months have passed since the second dose.

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

Preliminary trials in Israel reveal that the effectiveness of the third dose reaches 86% in those over 60 years of age, with a significant difference between the number of people who contracted the disease in the week following its reception compared to those who received only two doses, who recorded many more infections.

The rate of disease spread among vaccinated people aged 60 and over – known as the reproduction rate – began to decline steadily around August 13 and fell below 1, which indicates that each infected person transmits the virus to less than one person. A reproduction rate of less than 1 means that the epidemic is decreasing.

The decision to extend the plan to the third dose comes as Israel experiences the fourth wave of the pandemic, with more than 7,000 new cases recorded today, including 726 severe patients, the highest number since March.

The positivity rate reached 7% for the first time in the past six months, having reduced it to almost zero in June, following the initial rapid and successful vaccination campaign.

Israel currently has more than 80,000 active cases, not far from the peak of 88,000 at the worst of the third wave of January; Although the virus’s reproduction rate has declined slightly, the outbreak is therefore expected to begin to decline soon, which authorities attribute to the effectiveness of the third dose.

It is expected that next Wednesday, September 1, the face-to-face school year begins in Israel, when there are approximately 34,000 positive among school-aged children and 90,000 are isolated for having been in contact with someone. infected.

The novelty of this course is that people over 12 years old can be vaccinated in the same educational center.

The restrictions for traveling abroad, tightened at the beginning of the month, remain in force, although from August 31, Spain will no longer be on the list of red countries, in which Mexico and Brazil, enter. others will remain. .

(with information from the EFE)

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