Israeli PM Naftali Bennett announced on Thursday that the country would offer its already vaccinated citizens aged over 60 a coronavirus booster shot.

“I am announcing this evening the beginning of the campaign to receive the booster vaccine, the third vaccine. Reality proves the vaccines are safe. Reality also proves the vaccines protect against severe morbidity and death. And like the flu vaccine that needs to be renewed from time to time, it is the same in this case,” Bennett was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

According to the announcement, anyone aged above 60 who has been vaccinated over 5 months ago would be eligible for the booster shot.

With this announcement, Israel becomes the first country in the world to offer a third dose of a COVID vaccine to its citizens on a wide scale.

The decision comes amid rising infections in various parts of the world and a few studies showing a fall in the vaccine’s efficacy over time.

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Bennett said that he would encourage his own mother to take the booster.

No other country has yet approved a booster shot for the COVID vaccine. It is yet to be proven if the booster actually helps and if it does, who will need it and when.

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Israel has already started giving individuals with weakened immune systems a third shot to increase their resilience against COVID-19 since earlier this month.

Pfizer said on Wednesday that the effectiveness of its vaccine drops slightly six months after the second dose. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech plan to seek authorization for boosters in August.

The Israeli Health Ministry said that it has recorded at least 2,165 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, following a rise in infections over the past month. Serious cases of COVID-19 have grown from 19 a day in mid-June to 159 as the highly infectious delta variant has spread, AP reported.