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Israel to start booster shot for all citizens aged above 12

WION Web Team
Tel Aviv, IsraelUpdated: Aug 29, 2021, 10:23 PM IST
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FILE PHOTO: Photograph:(Reuters)

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Announcing that the booster shot will now be available for everyone aged 12 and above, Bennett assured locals that the 'third dose of the vaccine works'

After the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries to not start booster programme yet, Israel has announced that it will be administering the third shot to all citizens above the age of 12.

Israel’s newly-elected Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took this decision as he claims the booster shots are an effective way to contain the wide spread of the Delta variant.

Announcing that the booster shot will now be available for everyone aged 12 and above, Bennett assured locals that the "third dose of the vaccine works".

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To back up his claim, he said that nearly two million Israel nationals have received the third booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine and the results can be seen in the fact that the "increase in severe morbidity has begun to slow".

Israel’s Health Minister, Nitzan Horowitz, supported his PM’s claim and said the experts have concluded that there is no doubt that the booster shot is “effective in preventing infection, and it significantly reduces the risk of serious and fatal illnesses”.

Experts seem to agree with the PM but have also noted that some other factors might also be contributing to the decline of the Delta spread.

"The numbers are still very high but what has changed is that the very high increase in the rate of infections and severe cases has diminished, as has the pace at which the pandemic is spreading," said Eran Segal, data scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and an adviser to the government. "This is likely due to the third booster shots, an uptake in people taking the first dose and the high number of people infected per week, possibly up to 100,000, who now have natural immunity," Segal said.

This announcement has come a few days after the country started administering booster shots to the adult population — becoming the first country in the world to do so.