Israel Expands COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Eligibility to Include Teachers and 40 Year Olds

Haaretz News reported today Israel's vaccination committee recommends the Health Ministry expand the third COVID vaccination program to include Israelis aged 40 and up and teachers.

According to Minister Nitzan Horowitz's post on Twitter, the Health Ministry is expected to accept the recommendation.

As of August 18, 2021, Israel has administered over 1.2 million third-doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (Comirnaty) vaccine since the expanded vaccination program launch in late July 2021.

Yesterday, Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Nachman Ash signed a directive that would allow vaccinating students against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus during school hours, reported YnetNews.

These actions are related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.

On August 18th, the Health Ministry's dashboard revealed 599 individuals were newly classified as 'serious COVID-19' patients. This data compares with one month ago when the dashboard showed only 67 serious COVID-19 patients one month ago.