Posted on 08/21/21
| News Source: i24
Over 1,300,000 Israelis have already received their third dose of the coronavirus vaccine
Israel will expand its rollout of the vaccine booster shot to everyone aged 30 and upward later this week, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai said on Saturday.
During the last month, over 1,300,000 Israelis received their third dose of the coronavirus vaccine, as the country is battling a fourth wave of the pandemic, driven by the highly contagious delta variant.
Infections have surged in recent weeks, raising fears of a lockdown over the Jewish High Holidays, which will take place in September.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, 49, received his third shot as the country began administering them to people aged 40 and over.
Pfizer has said its vaccine's efficacy drops over time and that a third dose showed significantly higher neutralizing antibodies.
Israel was one of the first countries to launch a vaccination drive in mid-December via an agreement with Pfizer to obtain millions of paid vaccine doses in exchange for sharing data on their effectiveness.