For a long time, Israel was at the forefront of the fight against Corona, but the number of cases has risen dramatically in recent months. Where is the mistake?

At the end of January, when we were just starting to vaccinate in our country, 3 million of Israel’s 8.8 million residents had already gotten their first shot. The whole world turned to the vaccination champion to see the effect of a successful vaccination campaign.

Israel is no longer ahead of the rest of the world, but 5 million people have already been fully vaccinated. At first, this strategy proved successful: infection rates fell rapidly. But just two months ago 10 to 12 people were infected a day, that number has now risen to at least 8,000 a day.

The fact that Israel was ahead at the beginning of this year plays a role in this, says reporter Anki Riches in Radio NOS 1 News. Experts note that the effectiveness of two Pfizer vaccines decreases after six months. “As a result, people who have been vaccinated can still become infected again,” Riches says. “There are now also other infectious types of the virus. The added advantage is that people who are vaccinated usually get fewer diseases.”

Holidays are around the corner

The country is once again leading the way with the solution to the rising infection numbers: a booster vaccination, or a third corona vaccine that increases efficacy again. This boost was already available to Israelis over the age of 50, but is now also available to residents over the age of 40, and soon to all people over the age of 12.

In a speech last night, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett emphasized the importance of reinforcement. Everyone called for a third vaccination.

Bennett himself also vaccinated himself with the booster today: