Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday morning called once again on all Israelis over age 60 to receive a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
"This is a special announcement on taking care of those who are over age 60," Bennett said. "In the next two or three weeks, anyone who is over age 60 and has not yet been vaccinated is especially at risk - six times greater than those who received their third dose, and at least five days passed since their third dose."
"I want to emphasize again: Whoever is age 60 and up and has not yet received their third dose is at about six times greater risk of becoming seriously ill, and of, G-d forbid, dying."
Last week, Israel began a campaign to vaccinate senior citizens with a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
According to Health Ministry data, the majority of seriously ill coronavirus patients are over sixty years of age. Though the ages of those in serious condition range from 23 to 99, the average age of seriously ill patients is 72.7 years.
Although the vast majority of Israel's senior citizens are vaccinated, a large percentage also suffer from pre-existing conditions which put them at higher risk of complications and death if they contract the virus, and which may reduce the efficacy of the vaccine: Of the patients currently in serious condition from coronavirus, over half - 52.2% - have a pre-existing condition.