Hours after a team of experts advising the government on the coronavirus crisis voted to approve a third dose of the COVID vaccine for adults, Health Ministry Director-General Professor Nachman Ash announced on Thursday that Israelis aged 60 and up would get the booster shot.
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Ash instructed healthcare providers to start administering the shots to double-vaccinated Israelis who meet the age criteria starting on Sunday. Israelis had been receiving only two jabs, but in the wake of reports that theeffect of the vaccine appeared to have waned over time officials have recently started administering a third dose to immunocompromised patients, and now with the latest decision, virtually all seniors will be eligible.
As for other age groups, a decision could be based on what regulators in the US would determine.
Another issue that remains in the air is whether or not the government should actively encourage the public to seek a booster shot, or simply allow a third dose of the vaccine for anyone who wants it.
Data collected from at-risk groups in Israel and other countries who have received a third dose indicates that a booster shot does not cause unusual side effects, while having been found to increase the amount of antibodies in recipients' bodies to five to 10 times as many as the recipients had prior to the booster shot.
A few studies have indicated that a combination of different forms of the vaccine provides the best results, so the Health Ministry is considering using Moderna for Israelis seeking a third vaccine dose. Israel used Pfizer vaccines exclusively in its nationwide vaccination campaign.
As the government debates when and how to administer a third vaccine dose, a number of medical centers nationwide re-opened their COVID units on Wednesday in light of a spike in the number of serious COVID-19 cases.
Most COVID units were shuttered following the vaccination campaign, which initially led to a drop in serious cases. But the spread of the delta variant has since been a game-changer, and the number of severe cases in Israel has more than doubled in the past week.
On Tuesday, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem published a study indicating that the Pfizer vaccine was no more than 80% effective in preventing serious illness.
The study, which was presented to the government, also predicted that the number of critically ill patients could reach 400 in less than three weeks if no action was taken to curb the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 2,165 new confirmed cases on Thursday morning, which comprise a 2.35% positive rate of the 102,524 tests processed in a 24-hour period. The virus reproduction rate stood at 1.33.
As of Thursday morning, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients stood at 275, with 159 listed in serious condition, 33 listed in critical condition, and 26 were on ventilators.
In total, there were 15,292 active or symptomatic patients nationwide.
Since the pandemic reached Israel in early 2020, 6,463 Israelis have died of the virus.
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i24NEWS contributed to this report
