Tel Aviv, Aug 30 (IANS): Israel has lowered the eligibility age for the third dose of coronavirus vaccine from 30 to 12, the Health Ministry said.

This is under the condition that at least five months have passed since receiving the second dose of vaccine, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Sunday.

Israel started its third dose vaccination campaign on August 1 amid a significant rise in Covid-19 morbidity in the country.

At first, people aged 60 and above were vaccinated with the third dose, and since then the minimum eligibility age has been gradually lowered.

Teachers, healthcare workers and pregnant women of all ages were already eligible to receive the third dose.

So far, the number of people who have got the third dose in Israel stands at over 1.96 million.

The number of people who received the first dose in Israel stands at over 5.95 million, or 63.8 per cent of its total population, while nearly 5.47 million have received the second shot.