COVID-19 infection rate in Israel drops just days after booster vaccine shot drive

Less than a month after Israel began its COVID booster shot drive, the country has started to witness the effect on the country's infection rate, according to scientists. In April, the middle eastern country became one of the first to declare itself 100% COVID free. But in June, the highly transmissible Delta variant swept in, raising daily caseload dramatically.

With an open economy and no lockdown, Israel went from single-digit daily infections to around 7,500 daily cases and 150 fatalities in a single week. Therefore, in a bid to mitigate the threat, the Naftali Bennett administration started administering a third booster shot to all residents above the age of 60 years. Last Thursday, they expanded the eligibility to 30-year-olds and above whose second dose was given at least 5 months prior.

Now in the latest development, experts at the country's Health Ministry and Weizmann Institute of Science have reckoned that the pandemic is abating as a result of the additional vaccine jab. Without discrediting the role of other factors such as increased precautions, they added that the infection rate in vaccinated people above 60 years of age began falling steadily after August 13. Furthermore, they also explained in a publication that the reproduction rate of the virus has dipped below 1, which directly implies that coronavirus is subsiding. 

PM urges the citizens to take the booster shot

Last week, Israeli PM Neftali Bennett released an audio message urging seniors to get the booster dose. In the recorded message, the leader warned that in two to three weeks time, anyone who is over the age of 60 and has not yet received their third vaccine is six times more likely to become seriously ill from the coronavirus compared to those who are five days past their third shot.

In addition to getting jabbed, Bennett also urged the elderly population to exercise extreme caution until they get the third dose. Since the outbreak, the country has registered over 1,015,043 cases and more than 6,880 fatalities, according to the latest tally by Wordometers. On Wednesday, it registered over 1,797 cases and 4,132 recovered cases. 

Image: AP