Special Task Force For COVID-19 Calls For Fourth Dose, Israel Can Realize Group Immunity In The Next Two Months

Israel's COVID-19 vaccination illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Amos Ben Gershom/Israel Government Press Office)

JAKARTA - The head of Israel's Special Task Force for COVID-19 has called for preparations to deliver a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as the country's Ministry of Health believes it can achieve herd immunity in the next two months.

The head of Israel's Special Task Force for COVID-19, Salman Zarka, called on local authorities to make preparations for administering the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last weekend.

"Given that the virus is here and will continue to be here, we also need to prepare for the fourth injection", he said, citing the Times of Israel from Kan September 6.

While not specifying the timing of the fourth dose, Zarka said the next booster injection could be modified to better protect against new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, such as the highly contagious Delta variant.

"This is our life from now on, in waves", he said.

Zarka said he hoped Israel would deliver a vaccine specifically adapted to fight the virus variant in late 2021 or early 2022.

Separately, Health Ministry officials believe Israel can move toward herd immunity against COVID-19, a report said late Sunday.

Illustration of COVID-19 vaccination in Israel. (Wikimedia Commons/Hanay)

According to public broadcaster Kan, ministry experts believe if the high vaccination rate continues along with the high rate of new COVID-19 cases, there is a good chance that in the next month or two, Israel will achieve a situation very similar to herd immunity.

Health officials believe tens of thousands of Israelis will test positive for COVID-19 in the coming weeks, and many more will receive a third booster dose of the vaccine. Combined, it is claimed that more than 80 percent of the population will be relatively protected from the disease, a situation similar to that seen in early June when new cases slowed to just a few.

According to the Channel 13 news report, those who had received the third dose were 96 percent protected from COVID-19 infection, starting a week after receiving the injection. The report claims those who have only had two doses at this time are only 42 percent protected from contracting the disease.

As of Sunday evening, there were 84,218 active Coronavirus cases in Israel, with 1,096 hospitalized, including 677 in serious condition and 157 on ventilators. The number of those seriously ill has tended to decline slightly over the past week, from a peak of 753 last Sunday.

In addition, as of last night 2,622,010 Israelis, or 28 percent of the total population, had received the third booster dose. Meanwhile, more than six million, or 65 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

To note, Israel was the first country to officially offer a third dose, starting a COVID-19 booster campaign on August 1 aimed at all people over 60.

Then gradually lower the eligibility age, expanding it last week to all people 12 years of age and older who received the second dose at least five months ago.