PM Bennett claims Israel doing world 'great service' by administering COVID booster shots

Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on August 5 said that his country was doing the world a “great service” by administering COVID booster shots to its population. In a Facebook broadcast, the head of the country’s eight-party coalition reckoned that by doing so, Israel was testing the effectiveness of the third shot on its population and therefore, contributing to the “global knowledge.” It is imperative to note that earlier this month, the Israeli administration announced that it would soon roll out a third vaccine shot for all people 60 years and above. 

"Israel is going ahead here with something that dramatically contributes to global knowledge," he said in a Facebook broadcast. Without us, the world wouldn't know the exact efficacy levels of the booster shots, wouldn't know the dates, how much they affect infections, how they affect severe illness," he added.

Bennet, who assumed the Prime Ministerial office earlier this year, also acknowledged that Israel's relatively small population "doesn't significantly affect the global surplus", he said that the knowledge accumulated in the process would be "immediately shared with the entire world". His remarks come despite the World Health Organization (WHO)’s plea for a moratorium and heightened call for global vaccine equality. 

'Over 60% fully vaccinated' 

Israel has been leading the global vaccination race and at present, nearly 60% of its 9.3 million population are fully vaccinated against COVID. The country was also the first one to declare itself completely free of the lethal respiratory infection, however, a recent surge in Delta variant has triggered the need for a third booster shot. Recently, the country's Health Ministry has said that about 90% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 are of Delta variant. According to the latest tally by Worldometers, more than 891,811 cases have been detected throughout the country as of now.

Delta variant was first detected in India and since then it has driven fresh waves of coronavirus infections. Flagging the concerns regarding the same, WHO Secretary-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently issued a warning to the nations that the “early phases” of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. He said, “Unfortunately...we are now in the early stages of a third wave.”

Image: AP