Nitzan Horowitz
Nitzan HorowitzMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz is not hiding his concern about the discovery of 10 cases of the South American variant of the coronavirus in Israel.

"I hope it does not spread too much and that we manage to isolate the cases," Horowitz said in an interview with Channel 12 News on Thursday.

"This virus is changing rapidly and adapting itself. We have come across some cases of this mutation in the country, thanks to the surveillance at Ben Gurion Airport, where every person is tested, and also because of the extensive array of tests we are conducting now. This allows us to identify variants quickly," he added.

Horowitz commented on the vaccines against the virus and said, "The third vaccine dramatically increases the body's immunity and it gives us protection against serious illness and infection. It's time to tell the million people who have not been vaccinated - go get vaccinated, it is also effective against new mutations."

On the claims against the effectiveness of the vaccine against the Delta variant, the minister said, "Even if the vaccine is not adapted to Delta, it increases the body's protection. We assume that it is good for other mutations as well. In the meantime, the Delta is raging here and must be stopped."