Israel’s Health Ministry announced Monday evening that it will offer a third, booster shot of the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to those considered “at risk” — those who are elderly and/or immunosuppressed — in light of the rising COVID-19 morbidity around the country.
The third shot will not be made available to the general public, at least at this point.
Officials at the Health Ministry reported late Monday night that 369 new cases of the virus were diagnosed since midnight Sunday night, and over the course of the day on Monday.
At present, 35 Israelis are being treated in hospitals for serious complications secondary to COVID-19, including 17 on ventilators.
COVID-19 By the Numbers
The Health Ministry reported that 343 Israelis were diagnosed Sunday with COVID-19, with 0.7 percent of the 50,000 tests conducted returning positive results – an exponential jump from the start of this latest wave, when only six new cases were identified out of 17,000 tests carried out.
Last week 300 to 320 new cases were diagnosed daily, the ministry said.
About half of those infected this time around are children and teens, including a significant percentage of those who were fully vaccinated.
More than half (51 percent) of those who have recently become infected with COVID-19 are fully vaccinated according to the latest data, with the Delta variant of the virus responsible for at least 90 percent of the infections.
Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center reported that of the six Israelis hospitalized with the virus — including patients listed in serious condition (all ages 75-plus) — five were fully vaccinated. All four of those listed in serious condition were inoculated.
The current morbidity rate is 52.9 percent among hospitalized patients.
More than 57 percent of hospitalized patients in serious condition are not vaccinated, the ministry reported, including a child and a pregnant woman.
The Health Ministry added the ability of the vaccine to prevent serious morbidity remains high at 93 percent.
Since the start of the pandemic, 6,429 Israelis have lost their lives to COVID-19.
Studies to Assess Vaccine Efficacy Approved
The decision to approve a booster shot for “at risk” Israelis followed a long meeting Sunday night of the Advisory Committee for Coronavirus Vaccines.
Health Ministry Director-General Chezi Levy said during an interview Monday morning on Galei Tzahal Army Radio that the experts who discussed the issue Sunday night confirmed the effectiveness of COVID-19 antibodies gained from inoculation begins to fade over time.
Subsequent to that revelation, another meeting on the topic was held Monday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz joined by the head of the National Security Council, the National Coronavirus Project director, the Director General of the Health Ministry, the head of the Health Ministry Public Health Service and additional professionals.
The meeting focused on the issue of vaccine efficacy and ended with a decision to approve two medical studies to be carried out by the Health Ministry.
One study will be conducted among verified coronavirus patients who have been vaccinated, regarding various factors (age, pre-existing ailments, inoculation date, etc.) to evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine and the rate at which it wears off over time among persons from various age groups and with various pre-existing ailments.
The second study will evaluate the cellular immunity among vaccinated persons over time, by means of serological tests.
The studies are to be coordinated by Public Health Service Director Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis in cooperation with Israeli HMOs.
Bennett: In ‘Close Contact’ with Pfizer CEO
Bennett spoke several times last week with Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla, thanking him for the close cooperation in bringing the vaccines to the State of Israel.
The two men discussed strategies for dealing with the virus, especially existing and future variants, as well as the possibilities for supplying Israel with additional Pfizer vaccines.
The validity of Israel’s current supply of vaccine doses will expire at the end of this month.
On that topic, Bennett and Bourla discussed possible deals for exchanging vaccines between Israel and various countries to obtain a supply with a longer expiration date.
The contacts are being managed by the Health Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council.
