Initial data revealed Tuesday evening on Channel 12 News shows that the Omicron strain of COVID-19 is not resistant to the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the data, the vaccine's protection against infection for those who received three doses drops only slightly, to 90% protection against Omicron versus 95% against Delta. At the same time, the protection the vaccine offers this group from serious illness resulting from Omicron is as high as its protection from serious illness caused by Delta.
On the other hand, those recovered from COVID-19 have twice as high a risk of contracting Omicron as they had of contracting Delta, and the transmission rate for Omicron is 1.3 times that of Delta.
In addition, those who are unvaccinated have a 2.4 times higher chance of becoming seriously ill from Omicron than they did from the original COVID-19 virus.
On Tuesday, Israel's Home Front Command reported that the number of Israeli citizens suspected of being carriers of the Omicron variant rose to 34, and two Israelis have been confirmed to have contracted it. At the same time, there is concern that some of those carrying Omicron have not yet been located.