Dr. Dror Dicker, a member of the panel of experts advising the government on coronavirus and also the director of the coronavirus department in Hasharon hospital, told Reshet Bet on Friday that the government's current strategy was one of trying to "buy time," as it was proving extremely difficult to halt the epidemic in its tracks.
Dr. Dicker was discussing the government's decision to expand eligibility criteria for the booster (or third) dose of the Pfizer vaccine to the over-50 age group (and at a later stage, to those aged between 40 and 50).
"We are in a time of uncertainty, and we are being forced to manage the battle against the epidemic while on a steep learning curve, taking swift decisions as we go along," he said. "It is proving extremely difficult to halt the epidemic in its tracks; all we can do at the present moment is buy some time.
"I hope very much that we will soon see a reduction in the number of people with comorbidities with serious cases of coronavirus," he added. "But we will only stop the contagion when those who have yet to be vaccinated go and get their first dose of the vaccine. We have to learn how to live alongside Covid-19," he noted, "and in order to do that, we have to bolster our health services."