Because of the rapid progress in vaccination, Israel has long been regarded as an international role model.
Now, however, the numbers are skyrocketing again - and the country is trying again with countermeasures.
Tel Aviv - For a long time you could have thought that Israel defeated the Corona * pandemic due to the consistent progress in vaccination.
But hopes are deceived, because the number of new corona infections reported daily is increasing considerably.
The Ministry of Health in Israel * recorded 8,646 new cases on Tuesday for the previous day, the highest value since the end of January.
The number of intensive care patients also rose to 559, the highest level since mid-March.
The sudden increase in the incidence is surprising, after all the numbers in the past few days had been below 6,000.
As a measure against the massive increase in the number of infected people, the country began about two weeks ago to distribute the third corona vaccination to people who had been vaccinated twice.
According to the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, more than a million Israelis have already received the so-called “booster” vaccination * - and thus triple vaccination protection.
Anyone over the age of 50 who received their second vaccination at least five months ago is entitled to have a vaccination booster.
Rising Corona Numbers - Israel Starts Booster Vaccination
Israel's haste is based on a good reason: Despite rising numbers and the spreading, more contagious Delta variant, Israel is also grappling with a halting vaccination campaign.
The third vaccination is intended to help those severely affected by Corona to better protection against contagious virus variants.
The background to the start of the booster vaccination are the results of a study by the Ministry of Health *, according to which the effectiveness of the vaccines Biontech and Pfizer used in Israel has decreased significantly since the beginning of June.
Experts criticize, however, that the figures on effectiveness were not collected scientifically.
Overall, more than 58 percent of the 9.4 million people in Israel have been vaccinated twice. But: According to Prime Minister Bennett, there are more than a million Israelis who could be vaccinated but would not do so. In Germany, the STIKO has at least adjusted the vaccination recommendation for young people. Many experts hope that this will boost the vaccination campaign in the country. *
Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA. (Klb / dpa)
