Israeli elderly, risk patients get second booster

Israel began administering fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines to heart transplant patients on Friday as authorities approved booster shots for people most vulnerable to the virus.

The country launched trials of the fourth dose at the center earlier this week, administering it to some 150 medical personnel who had received boosters in August. Israel was one of the first countries in the world to roll out Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine a year ago, and began introducing booster shots last summer.

Around two-thirds of Israel's population of nearly 9.5 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and some 4.2 million Israelis have received all three doses, according to the latest Health Ministry figures.