Israeli President Isaac Herzog, 60, received a third jab of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday following the country’s decision to give older people an extra shot.
The decision came as infections were rising amid evidence that the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination has declined significantly since the beginning of June.
That anyone age 60 and up, and who had received a second vaccine dose at least five months ago, may now receive a booster.
However, there have been doubts raised by the government’s own experts about the methods by which the infection data was being collected.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed that Israel was ready to share any information over this step.
“The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is a global fight.
“The only way to defeat it is together.’’
“Israel has already given 2,000 immunosuppressed people a third dose with no adverse effects reported,’’ Bennett said.
The number of new coronavirus infections reported in Israel within one day has already exceeded the 2,000 mark for four days in a row.
On Friday, the Ministry of Health reported 2,140 new infections for the previous day, with 167 patients seriously ill.
Just less than 58 per cent of the population was fully vaccinated. (dpa/NAN)
