Israel made preparations to make sure to have sufficient vaccine supplies in the case of the fourth round of Covid-19 shots needed, said the country’s peak health official on Sunday.
“We don’t know when it will happen; I hope it will not be within six months, as it is today, and that the third dose will last longer,” said Director of the Ministry of Health Nachman Ash in an interview with an interview with 103FM radio.
Israel, who mainly used the Pfizer Inc-Bontech SE vaccine, has so far been inoculated by around 2.8 million people with a third dose after starting a boost to manage booster shots in August.
Health officials said the effect of the initial Covid-19 shot weakened five months after inoculation, making the amplifier needed.
The US and Britain also plan to start offering Booster Shots later this year, while Europe also considers the third dose.
It came as a world health organization begging the moratorium on the third shot.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week that the government had to wait at least until the end of this year so poor countries could get better access to the vaccine.
Besides those who have received a booster, around 2.7 million of 7 million eligible Israelis have had two jabs and around 500,000 only have one shot.
Nearly 1 million people do not have a vaccine dose.
The state, once the front runner in a global race to switch from Covid-19, became a hot spot pandemic in early September.
Following the deployment of the Delta variant during the summer, Israel has the highest level per capita infection in the world a week until September 4, according to the numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Ash said last week that Booster’s shot seemed to have stopped a surge in infection.
Severe case levels per 100,000 populations among people who are not vaccinated are much higher than those who have received two vaccine doses, indicating that even with reduced immunity, shots provide protection against serious diseases.
Asked about reports that Israel has promised a Pfizer that it will use the company vaccine exclusively, Ash said that the government did not make such an effort.
He said that people over 18 years get their first shots are currently given a moderna vaccine inc.