Corona pandemic: Israel starts campaign for four vaccinations

The Israeli government is relying on a further dose of vaccine in the fight against the Omikron variant. All Israelis over 60 should be vaccinated for the fourth time as soon as possible.

20, maybe 30 percent of the population of Israel will contract the coronavirus in the next three weeks. This is how an advisor to the government sees it. And the reason is the omicron variant. According to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, this has long since arrived in the country. He called on all citizens over 60 to be vaccinated for the fourth time.

In Israel, there has been talk of a large-scale campaign of four vaccinations for a long time. So far, leading experts have been somewhat skeptical as to whether this will bring much. That is why the fourth shot has so far only been given to patients with a weakened immune system.

Worry about the explosion in the number of infections

The government now appears to believe in the benefits of a fourth dose. The question is how many Israelis actually get vaccinated. Because already with the third dose, the proportion of those vaccinated fell significantly. Israel may be the world champion when it comes to vaccination supplies, but it is not when it comes to vaccination quota.

The number of newly detected infections in Israel is increasing rapidly. It is currently around 5000 per day. In just a few weeks, it could be 50,000 a day, according to Naftali Bennett. An extremely high value in little Israel.

“Israel will once again pioneer the global vaccination effort,” said Bennett. “Omikron is not Delta. This is a completely different situation. We have to take a close look at it and act decisively. So that we can keep our country as open as possible in this pandemic.”

Rules are not enforced

After all: the number of people seriously ill with Covid-19 is only increasing slowly.

Israel recently tightened the rules for masks and gatherings. In many places, however, the rules are neither observed nor enforced by security forces.

Observers therefore speculate that the government now wants to give free rein to the spread of the Omikron variant. It would be fitting that the older population should be better protected with a fourth dose of vaccine.