A plan that was supposed to commence starting Sunday, Israel backtracked from its initial plan to vaccinate its citizens with the second booster shot, as a way to tackle the current spread of the Omicron variant.
Health Ministry officials on Thursday evening decided to hold off administering a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to Israelis over 60 and others at risk. As the numbers stay low, both in Israel and in Britain, the move to administer the fourth vaccine has yet to be approved.
Source: BBC (EPA)
According to Israeli media, the nation officially pushed off the vaccine roll-out for the time being as Ministry officials are reviewing data with regard to how many cases of the new Omicron variant and Covid-19, in general, are ending with patients who are seriously ill or hospitalized.
The decision to backtrack despite a jump in daily cases comes due to the fact that serious cases and hospitalizations, however, continue to remain low, as early studies suggest Omicron may not produce as severe symptoms as the Delta variant. As of Thursday morning, there were 9,591 active COVID cases in Israel, with 124 of them hospitalized, 83 in serious condition, and 39 on ventilators. It is unclear how many of the new cases are linked to the new Omicron variant.
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
