Bennett on Phone with Pfizer CEO to Urge Approval for Shots for Under 12s

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke on Thursday with Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla and asked him to expedite the process of giving regulatory approval for vaccinations for children under age 12, the PMO said.

Bourla replied that he ascribes great importance to the possibility of vaccinating children and that he is acting, and will continue to act, to the best of his ability to expedite the process.

The two also discussed the campaign for a third vaccination in Israel, which is the first country in the world that is inoculating its citizens over age 60 with a third, booster, dose of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, a senior advisor to the government’s coronavirus cabinet said that they will be able to gauge the effect of the booster within two weeks.

Prof. Eran Segal told Army Radio: “I believe that in the next two weeks we will see if we’re able to see a change in the trend, to slow the rise in morbidity. If we don’t see that, then it will seem that the booster did not do its work and we might have to further tighten restrictions.”

Israel began giving third booster doses to the population over 60 on August 1, and more than 700,000 have already received it.