The deputy director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Professor Dan Turner, has announced that he will not be receiving a third or booster shot of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, even though he is eligible for the booster dose.
The government recently expanded eligibility criteria to encompass all those over the age of 50, and plans to further expand the criteria to the 40 to 50 age group. No other country has made a booster shot available for these populations, and the CDC recently stated in an announcement that it had concluded that a booster shot was only necessary for those above the age of 60 or immunocompromised.
Explaining his decision to pass on the booster shot, Turner told Channel 12 News that his was a “moral” choice, given that the populations of other countries have yet to gain access to a first dose of the regimen.
“I’ve given a lot of thought to this very complex matter,” he said, “one which involves a clash between scientific, ethical, and humanitarian considerations – and the result was that I have decided not to accept a third dose at this point in time.”
Turner added that, “Israel’s decision to offer a third dose is very unsettling, when there are other countries that have yet to commence a vaccination program … As doctors, we treat all people with mercy and compassion, without regard to their religion, race, or gender, and this is how we should be conducting ourselves on a global scale, without according ourselves national priority.
“The words of the head of the WHO cry out a protest to the heavens: There are countries where just one percent of the population are vaccinated. Israel is now giving out a third vaccine shot, and this is neither right nor moral,” he concluded.