JERUSALEM — An Israeli health official says experts have recommended administering a new round of coronavirus booster shots after seeing evidence that protection from an earlier booster campaign is beginning to wane.
An advisory panel of health experts on Tuesday recommended to the government to begin giving booster shots to Israelis over 60 and health care workers as protection against the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Dr. Tal Brosh, an expert on infectious diseases with the Israeli Health Ministry and panel member, said the decision was controversial because data is still incomplete. But he said people who received booster shots more than four months ago appear to have double the infection rate as those who recently received the shot.
“We do not have any very good evidence to show that this intervention is beneficial,” he acknowledged. “But we do think that the science behind this decision is good.” He said experts fear that waiting too long for more data will result in thousands of new infections.
Israel was one of the first countries to vaccinate its population early this year. Last summer, it became the first country to conduct a nationwide booster campaign.
The experts’ recommendation still needs approval from the Health Ministry’s director. If approval is given, the booster campaign is expected to begin next week.
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