Prime Minister Naftali Bennett received a third shot of Pfizer/BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, after Israel extended its booster campaign for people over 40 to try to curb the Delta coronavirus variant.
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New cases in Israel have surged since Delta's emergence and Bennett, 49, has sought to avoid an economically painful national lockdown by ramping up third doses.
People over 60 began receiving third doses in July, before the minimum age of eligibility was dropped to 50. Health Ministry officials cited waning immunity and Delta's high infectiousness.
The Health Ministry said on Friday that boosters would now be administered to people over 40 whose second shot was at least five months ago. It recommended teachers, health workers, caregivers of the elderly, and pregnant women of all ages have the shot.
"If you go get vaccinated with a third shot, we will be able to avoid a fourth lockdown," Bennett said before he was shown live on social media receiving his shot. He said Israel would share its data.
"A few weeks ago, I told the public that if we get vaccinated in Elul [the last month of the Jewish year] we will be able to celebrate the holidays with our families in Tishrei [the first month of the Jewish year ]," Bennett said in a statement.
"I am telling you now: It's in arm's reach. It sounded unreal, because the Israeli public is used to spending holidays in lockdown."
"It's in arm's reach, but we're not there yet," he emphasized. "I'm telling you clearly: If you go get the third vaccine, we'll be able to avoid a fourth lockdown. We are at the peak of the battle at this very moment."
Over 1.2 million of Israel's 9.3 million people have received a third shot, which an Israeli healthcare provider said on Wednesday was 86% effective in preventing infection.
Israeli health officials have said they are seeing initial signs that the booster campaign may be slowing the rate at which cases are climbing.
About 1 million eligible Israelis have not taken any dose of the vaccine and severe cases have been climbing, though few fully vaccinated 40 to 50-year-olds have fallen seriously ill.
Studies have shown the vaccine is still highly effective in preventing serious illness but its effectiveness against new infections fell as the Delta variant spread.
There is no consensus among scientists and health agencies that a third dose is necessary.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Friday morning reported that the number of severe coronavirus cases had reached 594.
At the same time, the ministry reported that 7,692 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed on Thursday, representing 5.54% of the coronavirus test results received.
There are currently 62,922 active coronavirus cases, and the country has so far seen 6,759 coronavirus deaths, including 17 who died on Tuesday and four who died Wednesday.
Nearly one thousand (957) coronavirus patients are hospitalized, including the 594 who are in serious condition, of whom 149 are in critical condition, with 108 patients intubated.
Earlier this month, the Health Ministry said that if Israel reaches 600-700 severe coronavirus cases, the country will need to lock down in order to avoid overwhelming the hospitals.
The reason for this is that Israel's hospitals are able to properly care for just 1,200 coronavirus patients, and reaching the ministry benchmark would signal that hospitals would reach maximum capacity within the coming weeks.
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Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said he was concerned about the discovery of 10 cases of the South American AY3 variant of the coronavirus in Israel.
"I hope it does not spread too much and that we manage to isolate the cases," Horowitz told Channel 12 News on Thursday.
"This virus is changing rapidly and adapting itself. We have come across some cases of this mutation in the country, thanks to the surveillance at Ben Gurion Airport, where every person is tested, and also because of the extensive array of tests we are conducting now. This allows us to identify variants quickly," he added.
