ECMO machine
ECMO machineiStock

A 22-year-old unvaccinated coronavirus patient has been hooked up to Ichilov Hospital's sixth ECMO machine, the hospital reported.

The patient arrived from Kaplan Medical Center; approximately half of Ichilov's other ECMO patients were transferred from other hospitals.

Ichilov has one more ECMO which is stored as a backup and reserved only for patients who have undergone liver transplants. The hospital also turned to Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa and requested an additional ECMO machine.

At the same time, the hospital turned to the Health Ministry with an urgent request for more ECMO machines.

Former coronavirus czar Professor Ronni Gamzu, who serves as director of Ichilov Hospital, said: "The hospital is treating and will continue to treat as much as necessary, each additional patient who needs to be hooked up to an ECMO machine."

"Unfortunately, due to insanity, people are not vaccinated, collapse, and reach extreme situations which could have been prevented had they been vaccinated. At the same time, the ICU staff and our excellent team for medical technology are prepared for any scenario, as much as necessary."