Report: 14 Israelis infected with COVID despite 3rd vaccine dose

More than a dozen Israelis who have been vaccinated three times against SARS-CoV-2 have been diagnosed with the virus in spite of the vaccines, according to a new report Sunday evening.

According to data from Israel’s Health Ministry which was published in a report by Channel 12 Sunday evening, fourteen people who have received a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine were diagnosed with the coronavirus at least seven days after receiving the third dose.

Israel officially kicked off its mass vaccination campaign for the third dose on July 30th, and has vaccinated some 422,000 people with the third dose thus far. The third dose is available to members of high-risk groups, including the elderly.

Of the 14 recipients of the third dose who tested positive for the virus at least seven days after receiving the booster shot, eleven are over the age of 60, with the remaining three being younger people who received the shot because they suffer from compromised immune systems.

Two of the 14 people who were diagnosed with COVID at least a week after receiving the booster shot have been hospitalized as a result of their COVID infections. Sunday’s report did not specify whether the two are in serious condition.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on Israeli Arabs to get vaccinated against COVID, saying the vaccine is a crucial part of the battle against the Delta Variant.

“This epidemic of the Delta variant is flooding the whole world and bringing with it high rates of contagion and increased mortality rates in many countries. The Delta variant is also spreading through Israel, and those most affected are older people – your parents and your grandparents. Therefore, Israel has obtained additional vaccine doses in order to provide our citizens with a third vaccine dose, so that we can protect all those over the age of 60.”

Bennett said that vaccination rates among the Arab sector are “too low.”