(23 Oct 2021) As Israel is hoping to emerge from a fourth coronavirus wave, experts say the country's aggressive booster-shot strategy is to thank for sinking infection rates, but warn a fifth wave might still be imminent.
Israel was among the first countries to widely vaccinate its population early this year, and the first to offer booster shots over the summer.
"We really didn't have much choice but to be the first country to take hard decisions on the need and the urgency in performing a booster vaccination campaign," said Ran Balicer, head of the Israeli government's expert advisory panel on COVID-19.
Israel has had more than 1.3 million infections since the pandemic began, with more than 8,000 deaths.
Its experience is being closely watched as other countries debate whether to expand their own vaccination programmes.
This week's U.S. decision to broaden its own booster campaign appears to be a step toward vindicating the Israeli approach.
Israel began vaccinating its population in December 2020, earlier than most other nations after inking a data-sharing deal with Pfizer, and led a successful two-dose campaign that saw a wide swathe of its population vaccinated by March.
The world closely watched Israel's vaccination effort as its daily caseload dropped close to zero for signs of what their own future might look like.
But in the beginning of July, the delta variant wave washed over the country, causing breakthrough infections and sending even those who had been double vaccinated to the hospital in many cases.
Israeli experts concluded that the vaccine's efficacy over time was waning.
Seeing the skyrocketing case numbers, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decided in late July to begin administering the Pfizer booster shot, first to those 60 and over.
With that, Israel became the first country to add a third dose - a decision approved overwhelmingly by an Israeli panel of expert advisers, but without FDA guidance.
Some 3.9 million Israelis, or just over 40% of the population, have now received the booster shot.
Among those over 60, the number is well over 70%.
In turn, the number of new coronavirus cases has plummeted in recent weeks, from over 9,000 new cases a day in early September to about 1,000 now.
The number of serious cases requiring hospitalization and infection rates have also dropped sharply.
Much of the world is still working to administer two doses of the vaccine.
Aside from Israel and the U.S., some European and Latin American countries have also begun administering boosters to at-risk groups.
The World Health Organization has called for a moratorium on boosters and for those doses to be made available to poorer nations.
In Israel's case, experts say the country found itself in a perfect storm that forced it to take action.
After infections plunged following the initial vaccination campaign, Israel's previous government rescinded all virus restrictions, including a mask mandate in indoor spaces and the country's vaccine passport required to dine at restaurants and attend crowded gatherings.
Israel has sought to share its trove of digitized health data with regulators in attempt to clear the fog.
Questions remain, including whether an additional dose will be necessary every few months or whether the extra shot will work against new variants.
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