Israel offers Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to adults at risk

Israel said on Sunday it will start offering a booster of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 to adults with impaired immune systems, but it was still considering whether a third round of shots should be given to the general public, as reported in Fidelity.

Pfizer and partner BioNTech said in the last few days that they will ask US and European regulators within weeks to authorize booster shots, citing an increased risk of infection after six months.

Israeli health minister Nitzan Horowitz said "we are examining this issue and we still do not have a final answer."

"In any case we are administering as of now a third shot to people suffering from immunodeficiency ... These are for instance people who have undergone organ transplants or suffer from a medical condition which causes a drop in immunity," Horowitz added.

About half of the 46 patients presently hospitalised in Israel in severe condition are vaccinated, according to health ministry data. Israel's coronavirus pandemic response coordinator Nachman Ash said the vast majority are from risk groups.

Meanwhile, Horowitz said that separately, the health ministry would plug a Pfizer supply gap for ongoing two-dose inoculations of the general adult population by using Moderna vaccines already in stock.