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Israel will begin offering third doses of the BioNTech / Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine this week to adults with severe pre-existing medical conditions, becoming the first country in the world to officially offer the so-called “booster” score.
The move, confirmed Monday by the health ministry, comes as U.S. and European health authorities debate the need for security strikes. At the end of last month, the United Kingdom provided interim support for a reinforcement campaign from September. Pfizer said last week that it would ask regulators to approve them.
Israel has been widely acclaimed for deploying one of the fastest vaccination initiatives in the world after ensuring the regular supply of the vaccine to Pfizer in exchange for providing data.
But infection rates are rising sharply in Israel due to the highly transmissible Delta variant. The number of cases has risen to more than 400 per day, after weeks of daily single-digit infections. However, only 47 out of 4,000 active cases nationwide are considered to involve serious illness, with health experts insisting that the two-dose Pfizer vaccine continues to provide strong protection against hospitalization and death.
In a statement late last week, Pfizer and BioNTech said a third dose “has the potential to preserve the highest levels of protective efficacy against all currently known variants, including Delta.” Companies were still working on an updated version of their vaccine “targeted at the entire peak protein of the Delta variant.”
According to Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, reinforcement would be provided for adults who suffer from severe immunodeficiency, who have undergone a recent organ transplant, or who are generally considered at risk.
The health ministry recommends that the third outbreak occur between four and eight weeks after the second dose of Pfizer, with the approval of a family doctor. For some specific risk groups, the ministry also recommended that they do an antibody test after the second and third dose, although this is not a prerequisite.
“It’s not uncommon for medicine to use‘ off-label ’drugs, which is not exactly according to the same protocols as clinical studies,” said Dr. Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease expert at Sheba Medical Center. “It’s safe, effective and based on clinical judgment.”
Under the Israeli vaccination campaign, which began in December, more than 5 million of the country’s 9 million citizens have been fully inoculated with two doses spread over three weeks. Health authorities recently launched a push to vaccinate teenagers as well, with nearly 200,000 over-12s receiving their first blows in the past two weeks.
After total reopening its economy in the spring and removing all coveted restrictions last month, Israel recently began reinstating new restrictions, including mandatory masks for indoor meetings and public transportation. Additional steps are expected to be introduced, such as a stricter quarantine for travelers and more testing for children. Even Israel can recover the “green pass,” which allowed for greater freedom for vaccinated people.
“[Booster shots for at-risk populations are] it is probably more important than vaccinating a few 20-year-olds, “Leshem added.” It is plausible that you can save more lives with this step. ”
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