Coronavirus, vaccination and omicron: Israel is the first in the world to start giving the fourth dose of Kovid-19 vaccine
Israel plans to become the first country in the world where the population will be vaccinated with the fourth dose of the Kovid-19 vaccine.
The health system of that country is preparing for a new wave of spread of the infection caused by the appearance of a new, omicron strain virus.
Israeli pandemic experts have recommended giving a fourth, booster dose to healthcare workers and people over the age of 60.
Naftali Bennett, the Prime Minister of Israel, welcomed the new plan and told government officials to start preparations for its implementation.
Authorities announced this decision a day after the first death from omicron strain was confirmed in Israel.
The Ministry of Health announced that at least 340 cases of omicron strain infection have been recorded in Israel so far.
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"About 80 percent of people on respirators have not been vaccinated."
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In order to officially enter into force, the decision on giving the fourth dose should be confirmed by the commission of health officials.
However, Prime Minister Bennett's office told the BBC that they expected to hope that the fourth dose would be given three at least four months after the third.
"This is wonderful news that will help us overcome the wave of contagion caused by the omicron strain around the world," said Prime Minister Bennett.
He called on the population of Israel to be vaccinated with additional doses as soon as possible.
When Israel started the program of mass vaccination against Kovid-19, the response was relatively large.
Despite this, only about 63 percent of Israel's 9.3 million people received two doses of the vaccine.
One of the reasons for that is the fact that the population of Israel is relatively young and one third are children under 14 years of age.
In order to solve that problem, the authorities made a decision in November to vaccinate children older than five.
Prime Minister Bennett said Monday that he wants every child he can to get vaccinated in the next two weeks because it will "help slow down the new wave of coronavirus infection."
Israeli authorities have already imposed new restrictions due to the spread of omicron strains, thus banning the arrival of passengers from the United States, Germany, Italy and Canada.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1.36 million people have been infected with the corona virus in Israel, and 8,200 have died, according to data from the American University of Johns Hopkins.