Third Dose with Existing Vaccine or New Product? ... Israel's Dilemma Amid Delta Variant Spread

Daily New Cases Surge from Single Digits to 1,400s
Pfizer Begins Clinical Trials for New Product Targeting Delta Variant in August

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] As cases of 'breakthrough infections'?where people contract COVID-19 despite being vaccinated?continue, Israel is facing a dilemma over the vaccine to be used for the nationwide third dose (booster shot).

On the 25th (local time), according to Israel's Channel 12, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of public health under Israel's Ministry of Health, stated that there is a debate on whether to proceed with the nationwide third dose using the existing vaccine or to wait for the vaccine currently being developed to respond to the Delta variant.

With the recent spread of the Delta variant, the preventive efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine has been shown to decline. The Israeli Ministry of Health recently announced that the Pfizer vaccine's effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 infection has dropped to 39%. Among 1,152,914 COVID-19 tests conducted over the past month, there were 5,770 cases of infection among those who had completed two doses of the vaccine. Consequently, the vaccine committee under the Ministry of Health decided not to recommend the third dose for the elderly immediately.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer is reportedly developing a booster shot to counter the Delta variant. Pfizer announced that, with regulatory approval, clinical trials for the product targeting the Delta variant could begin as early as August.

One member of Israel's vaccine committee said in a broadcast interview, "Although the preventive efficacy of the existing vaccine has declined, it is better to wait for the development of a booster shot specialized for the variant virus," adding, "The final decision rests with the Ministry of Health."

Israel imported the Pfizer vaccine in December last year and conducted nationwide vaccinations at the fastest pace globally. Last month, after successfully controlling the spread of infections, Israel lifted all quarantine measures except for the indoor mask mandate. However, with the spread of the Delta variant, the daily new confirmed cases, which had dropped to single digits, recently increased to the 1,400 range.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of Health released research results showing that most breakthrough infection cases do not transmit COVID-19 to others, including in public places. The investigation found that 80% of breakthrough cases did not spread the virus to others in public venues such as concert halls, restaurants, gyms, and event halls. Cases where the virus was transmitted to one other person accounted for 10% of all breakthrough infections, and transmission to two or more people accounted for 3%. The remaining 7% were unclear whether they transmitted the virus to others after infection.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.