Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held a press conference Sunday evening, announcing the expansion of the campaign for the fourth dose of the COVID vaccine, while declaring that the fifth wave of the coronavirus, fueled by the Omicron variant, has begun in earnest.
“The Omicron wave is here,” said Bennett.
“I want to give you, the citizens of Israel, a complete picture of the situation, as much as it is possible to do so: what actions we have taken, what the situation is right now, and how the coming weeks will look like in Israel, and what each and every person must do.”
“The Omicron variant is different from all previous strains.”
“Here in Israel, we prepared for the Omicron variant very early; earlier than everyone else.”
“About five weeks ago, we closed the State of Israel to entry by foreign nationals. This move drastically delayed the entrance of the Omicron variant into Israel. We bought ourselves precious time and saved it well.”
“We purchased medicine, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid – a drug in high demand around the world, with lots of competition among buyers. We now have the drug, and it is highly effective.”
“Secondly, we prepared and are preparing the hospitals to make sure that they’ll be ready for the peak of the wave of hospitalizations.”
“We also ensured that we have a sufficient supply of vaccines for the elderly and for children.”
The prime minister also announced that Health Ministry director-general Nachman Ash and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz on Sunday agreed to approve a fourth dose of the COVID vaccine for Israelis over 60, as well as to medical workers.
Israel's Health Ministry first cleared the fourth dose of the vaccine last Thursday, but offered it only for people with impaired immune systems.
Bennett called on Israelis over 60 to receive the new booster as soon as possible, and urged parents of children over age five who have yet to be vaccinated to schedule an appointment for vaccination immediately. “Every day is important.”
“The vaccine saves you from serious illness – and from having to go into quarantine,” Bennett said, calling on unvaccinated Israelis to “go out less, to be exposed less, and so to protect themselves.”
“People who are fully vaccinated can more or less continue their lives as normal.”
The prime minister predicted that by the end of the week, the number of new daily confirmed cases of COVID would rise from roughly 5,000 to 20,000, rising to at least 50,000.
The government, Bennett continued, has pursued a "middle way" strategy of avoiding new lockdowns, while also trying to avoid a rapid increase in the number of hospitalizations.
