Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving his fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. [로이터 = 연합뉴스]Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman (63) has been vaccinated against COVID-19 four times, but has been confirmed to have COVID-19. Israel is the first country in the world to receive a fourth dose of COVID-19. Controversy over booster vaccination is expected to intensify.
“I am fine and will self-isolate for a few days,” Lieberman said on Twitter on the 15th (local time). He even got the fourth COVID-19 vaccine on the 10th, but this time he was infected.
“I will continue to drive responsible economic policies from home and track data to plan future actions,” Liebermann said. Recently, Israel has been criticized for not providing more government support to companies as the number of Israeli infections due to the Omicron mutation has soared to an all-time high. Many employees are self-isolating and customers have been forced to stay at home.
The Israeli government started the fourth dose of vaccination for immunocompromised patients in December of last year, and since this month, the target has been expanded to the elderly over the age of 60 and medical staff. Israel’s Ministry of Health said the first booster shot increases protection 7 days after the dose, but has not yet released data on the fourth dose. The number of people who completed the 4th vaccination exceeded 500,000. Israel, with a population of 9.4 million, has had about 1.7 million confirmed cases and more than 8,000 deaths since the pandemic.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the 11th was concerned that the strategy of repeating a booster dose for COVID-19 could put a strain on people’s immune systems. “Repeating the vaccine at short intervals is not a sustainable long-term strategy,” Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy at EMA, said at a briefing. explained.
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