Israel's COVID-19 vaccine boosters show signs of taming Delta variant

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett after he received a booster shot for the coronavirus vaccine in the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel. Picture: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

Less than a month into a COVID-19 vaccine booster drive, Israel is seeing signs of an impact on the country's high infection and severe illness rates fuelled by the fast-spreading Delta variant, officials and scientists say.

Delta hit Israel in June, just as the country began to reap the benefits of one of the world's fastest vaccine roll-outs.