Posted on 08/06/21
| News Source: i24
Nearly 350,000 Israelis have received the third vaccine dose
Israel on Friday recorded 3,843 new daily COVID-19 cases with the positive test rate at 3.79 percent out of 102,749 people tested for the virus, according to Health Ministry data.
The number of serious infections stood at 253 with 65 of these listed as critical and 52 needing respirators.
As of Friday morning there were 27,525 active patients as the country works to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant that has resulted in a spike in overall infections.
As part of the effort to stabilize the situation, Israel last Sunday began administering a third vaccine dose to older adults above the age of 60 who received their second dose more than five months ago. Nearly 350,000 Israelis have received the booster shot, according to the latest data. Immunocompromised citizens are also eligible for the booster.
Still, the third vaccine dose and new restrictions recently announced might not be enough to avoid another lockdown for the disease that has claimed the lives of 6,509 people.
Israeli authorities are considering a fourth corona lockdown in the coming weeks, and are likely to make a decision on the matter by the end of August.
“We do not want to reach a lockdown, but the reality could make it a necessary step,” Health Ministry Director-General Prof Nachman Ash told Army Radio on Thursday.