In an interview with Army Radio, Sunday, coronavirus chief Nachman Ash said he believes that "if we clearly see that the opening threatens us we may have to make a painful decision, even ahead of the elections."
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After the government approved the easing of a series of pandemic restrictions, Saturday, Ash warned "in this process [of opening up] there is a lot of hope for a return to [normal] lives, but it also includes quite a few risks. If we don't adhere to the guidelines, there's a high chance of an outbreak in morbidity."
According to Health Ministry data released Sunday, 1,923 of the 45,938 people who tested for coronavirus were found to be carrying the virus, Wednesday, for an infection rate of 4.3%.
After hitting 0.99 last week, the reproduction rate rose once again and now stands at 1.02.
Israel currently has 40,650 active cases of the virus, 724 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 210 are on ventilators.
Although 753,985 of the 800,721 Israelis infected with the virus since the start of the outbreak have recovered from the virus, 5,861 have died.
Starting Sunday, event halls will be able to operate at 50% capacity, with a 300-person cap on attendance. Entrance will be allowed to green-pass carriers who have either been vaccinated or recovered from the virus, with 5% of attendees will be allowed to enter on the condition they provide a negative COVID-19 test.
Hotels will also operate under similar restrictions, at 50% capacity and with a maximum of 300 people. Up to 500 people will be allowed to attend indoor cultural and sporting events, and up to 750 people will be allowed to attend such events outdoors. Halls or stadiums able to accommodate over 10,000 spectators will be allowed to allow entry to up to 1,000 people indoors and 1,500 people outdoors.
In addition, people will no longer need to have their temperature taken before entering a public building.
So far, 4,929,084 people have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 3,716,439 have received both doses.
Meanwhile, medical experts have determined the 1,000 people who had their first vaccine dose administered with the wrong needle will not require a third jab.
The corona vaccine is meant to be administered directly into the muscle, and the concern is that the individuals, who were vaccinated in the military and at a clinic operated by one of Israel's four healthcare providers with a needle that was half an inch long instead of the required inch or inch and a quarter, may have received a subcutaneous injection due to the length of the needle used.
According to Health Ministry Epidemiology Division Manager Dr. Emilia Anis, "In other vaccines, when such an incident occurs, the dose isn't counted and is repeated. In this instance, the decision was made to carry out an antibody test on the 21st day."
At a Health Ministry meeting on vaccine prioritization, experts learned 603 of those inoculated with the shorter needle had been found to have high antibody levels.
Dr. Tal Brosh, a member of the Health Ministry's advisory committee and head of Assuta Ashdod Medical Center's Infectious Disease Unit, said that "in subcutaneous vaccines, the immunogenicity isn't harmed but sometimes even increases."
The experts noted that the Centers for Disease Control in the US had also concluded such instances did not require an additional dose of vaccine.
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