Israel's vaccination campaign continues at full force Thursday, with more than 30% of the population, 2,849,425 Israelis, having already received the first dose of the inoculation. Some 1,497,781 have received both doses. Starting Thursday, all Israelis over the age of 35 are also eligible to receive the inoculation.
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At the beginning of the campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted that it would provide at-risk Israelis with full protection by the end of January and enable the economy to begin reopening in February.
However, despite the incredible speed and success of the inoculation campaign, an exit from the pandemic next month hangs in the balance as new variants of the virus have spurred an increase in infections.
The Health Ministry reported Thursday morning that of the 85,827 tests it administered the day before, 7,668 came back positive. The infection rate stands at 9.2%.
There are currently 73,643 active cases in the country. Some 1,178 Israelis are hospitalized, 417 are in critical condition, and 320 are on ventilators.
Israel reported 4,612 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic, 106 of which occurred since Wednesday morning.
Governments worldwide "should probably expect the companies that are producing the vaccines at this point to modify their vaccines to accommodate the mutations that they don't cover now," Netanyahu said at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
"We are optimistic because, as of now, the knowledge regarding this vaccine is [that it is] effective against the variants," Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch said.
If that is correct, that means a delay of only two to four weeks in the government's planned exit from the pandemic, he said. If not, Israel could be facing a further delay of six to eight months.
"We'll have to wait for a new development of a vaccine that will give the answer against this mutation," Kisch said.
Pfizer announced Thursday morning that a study it conducted on the South African variant showed that the mutation only had a small impact on the effectiveness of antibodies generated by the company's COVID vaccine.
In the meantime, the Knesset approved Wednesday night to extend the lockdown until midnight next Sunday. Also, the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee was set to vote on Thursday on increasing fines for those who flout regulations but could not come to an agreement as a result of opposition from ultra-Orthodox political parties.
In response to the government's struggles to agree on increasing fines, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said, "either we extend the lockdown, or my fellow lawmakers see everything open."
Meanwhile, a recent study revealed that the average age of coronavirus victims has been decreasing since the outbreak of the pandemic in mid-March.
According to the data, the average age of coronavirus victims during the first wave between March and May was 81, during the second wave between June and October, it went down to 79, and in the current third wave, it dropped down to 77.
The study also revealed that of those deceased, 33% suffered from hypertension, 26% of diabetes, 21% suffered from heart disease, 8% from chronic lung disease, 3% from immunosuppression, and 1% had chronic liver disease.
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