Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday called on Israel's four HMOs to prepare to administer the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to additional sectors of the population.
Currently, the plan is to expand eligibility for a third dose to those ages 40 or 45 and above.
If the Health Ministry's professional echelon agrees on Thursday to greenlight the plan, the decision will go into effect next week.
On Wednesday evening, Kan News reported that Sheba Medical Center found a significant rise in antibody levels among those people over 60 who received a third dose of the vaccine. Results of serological testing showed that out of 100 people, 98 developed an increased level of antibodies after one week, reaching at level at least as high as that attained after the second dose.
Also on Wednesday, Israel Teachers Union head Yaffa Ben David demanded Health Minister NItzan Horowitz (Meretz) instruct that teachers be allowed to receive a third dose of the vaccine.
In her letter to Horowitz, Ben David wrote that she has "received dozens of requests" that "every education employee" be allowed to receive the third dose of the vaccine. This, she said, would "allow them to feel safer and to be more protected against the coronavirus."
"We are confident and sure that you have the authority to instruct the HMOs to allow educational staff to receive the third dose of the vaccine prior to the start of the school year on September 1, 2021," her letter concluded.