• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Thousands of Senior Citizens in Israel to Get the Third Dose of Coronavirus on Sunday

Aug 1, 2021

In recent news, no less than 30,000 citizens from the State of Israel, who are aged over 60, have booked their appointments to receive a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Health funds added that this third shot is likely to be administered in the upcoming week. 

The booster shot campaign was inaugurated by the country on Friday. More than 3,000 senior citizens showed up to receive the jab, who had been fully inoculated just five months ago. The Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, has assigned health funds with the responsibility of vaccinating the entire adult population of the country in a time span of no more than 10 days. The total number of relevant individuals, aged 60 and above, is 1.5 million. 

The first of these booster shots were administered at the Clalit Health Services, located in Netanya, Maccabi Health Services in Ramash Hasharon, and Sheba Medical Center, situated in Tel Hashomer. Sheba is also where the President of the country, Isaac Herzog, and his wife, received the shot as well. 

Addressing the third jab of the coronavirus vaccine, the President praised the Sheba hospital and applauded it for being one of the 10 leading medical centers across the globe. He stressed upon the importance of receiving this shot and appealed to the senior citizens in the country to come and get inoculated. He added that this booster vaccine is vital to ensure that the people of Israel are able to co-exist with the deadly disease and return to normal life.  

Herzog went on to talk about reopening schools in the next few weeks and discussed the upcoming High Holy Days. He also laid emphasis on safety and health of the elderly in the country. The President was given his booster shot by a nurse named Lina Ahmad at Sheba. Michal, his wife, was also given the jab by the same nurse. The medical personnel at the hospital, who qualified for the shot, were also inoculated the same day.

Bennet talked at the event as well, addressing the foreign leaders and press present there. He said that the fight against the deadly disease is a global fight, which requires the sharing of information, technology, and methods.

Earlier on Friday, Eli and Yafit Shapira had become the first ever citizens of the State of Israel to receive the third shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Nurse Moran Shapira, their daughter-in-law, gave them their jabs at a health center located in Hod Hasharon. 

Just last week, the Health Ministry voted that a third dose of the vaccine should be given to people aged 60 and above. It had done so after reviewing the data prepared by the Sheba Medical Center, which showed that antibodies had started to wane in older people, especially those who had been given their jabs five or six months ago. It had been noted that the senior citizens in the country are more likely to develop serious symptoms after contracting the virus. 

 

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