Pfizer’s third dose Coronavirus disease The Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the vaccine significantly improved the protection of people aged 60 and over from infection and serious diseases in Israel compared to people who received the vaccine twice.
The data was announced at the vaccination expert group meeting on Thursday and uploaded to its website on Sunday, but the full details of the study were not released.
The findings are comparable to separate statistics reported last week by the Israeli Maccabi health care provider, one of several organizations that administers intensified injections in an attempt to contain the delta coronavirus variant.
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According to statistics from Israel’s Gertner Institute and the KI Institute, officials of the Ministry said that among people 60 years of age and older, the protection against infection provided 10 days after the third vaccination is four times that of the two vaccination.
After 10 days, the third injection was given to people over 60 years of age, providing 5 to 6 times protection from serious illness and hospitalization.
This age group is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. When the vaccination campaign began in late December, Israel was the first age group to be vaccinated.
In recent weeks, the Ministry of Health stated that the immunity of the elderly and young people has also weakened over time. Most vaccinated people who are seriously ill in Israel are over 60 years old and have underlying health problems.
Israel started the third injection of people over 60 years of age on July 30. On Thursday, it lowered the eligibility age for intensive injections to 40, which includes pregnant women, teachers and health care workers below that age. The third dose is only given to people who received the second injection at least five months ago.
The United States has announced plans to provide enhanced injections to all Americans on the grounds that data shows weakened protection. Canada, France and Germany have announced booster campaigns.
Since June, with the outbreak of the Delta variant, Israel currently has one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world. Nearly 1.5 million of the country’s 9.3 million population received the third injection.
— Reporting by Jeffrey Heller and Maayan Lubell
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