Israel launches covid booster shot for over 60s starting Sunday

Israel has announced that a third, booster covid shot will be administered from Sunday to elderly person over 60 at least five months after they received their second. Health Ministry director general Prof. Nahman Ash said that the booster was necessary – even ahead of FDA approval – to ward off the fast-spreading delta affecting the first mostly elderly recipients of the vaccine in January.

The government decided to go forward with the third shoot ahead of FDA approval for Pfizer on the strength of data demonstrating that the two-shot vaccination’s effectiveness waned to 81pc over six months for persons over 60, compared with its 93pc effectiveness for younger people. Pfizer expects to publish definitive data on its booster program during its ongoing discussions with the FDA and other regulatory authorities