A third round of COVID vaccinations for the elderly is "vital" to avoid more stringent restrictions on the population than those already in place, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday as he inaugurated a new Clalit Health Services vaccination center at Cinema City in Jerusalem.
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"Our goal is to keep Israel open, but we will not allow ourselves to reach a situation in which hospitals, heaven forbid, might be forced to say, 'We don't have room.' That can't happen in Israel," Bennett said.
"In order to avoid much harsher restrictions, we'll wear masks, we'll maintain social distancing. It's up to us," the prime minister added.
"There are countries were there aren't enough vaccines for the population, whose people are hungry for them, and here the government is investing billions to make vaccines available everywhere in Israel. And still there are a million Israelis who simply refuse to be vaccinated. There are over 600,000 young people under age 30 who haven't been vaccinated," Bennett said.
On Tuesday, after a four-hour discussion, the Corona cabinet decided to reinstate the Green Pass regulations for events in which fewer than 100 are participating, for all ages.
However, despite efforts to find alternative ways of stemming a swelling fourth wave of COVID-19 in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in the meeting that "most likely" there would be no option but to declare a lockdown unless Israel could conduct a massive vaccination campaign for citizens age 60 and over within a few weeks.
The cabinet decided that starting Sunday, masks would be mandatory at events including more than 100 participants, even if they are held outdoors. Meanwhile, government offices will send 50% of their staff to work from home. Vaccinated parents who care for children under 12 or other vulnerable individuals who have been confirmed as COVID carriers will be required to self-quarantine.
The cabinet also decided to increase enforcement of quarantine and mask-wearing in public.
As far as travel, the prohibition on visiting countries listed "red" due to high rates of coronavirus there remains in place, unless an Israeli obtains a special exemption, will be expanded to countries designated "orange." Starting Sunday, Israelis returning from orange destinations will be required to quarantine, even if they are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19.
The cabinet also confirmed an earlier decision by the Knesset (Labor, Welfare and Health Committee to add 18 countries to the severe travel warning list following a recommendation by the Health Ministry.
The newly added countries are Ukraine, Italy, Iceland, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), United States, Botswana, Bulgaria, Germany, Netherlands, Tanzania, Greece, Malawi, Egypt, Czech Republic, France, Cuba, Rwanda, and Tunisia.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz recommends that the public wear masks in crowded outdoor spaces, saying, "The virus is spread there, too. Our emphasis is on enclosed spaces first, but the recommendation is also to wear masks at outdoor gatherings."
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"The number of new cases is very worrying, and we are concerned about the spike. We want to increase the steps we are taking to battle the virus and [increase] the percentage of vaccinated Israelis. Our vaccination numbers are good, but we want to reach 150,000 per day," Horowitz said.
A total of 3,313 new COVID cases were identified nationwide on Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday morning, meaning that 3.36% of the 98,663 tests processed in that 24-hour period came back positive.
As of Wednesday morning, 449 COVID patients were hospitalized, including 229 listed in serious condition.
As the world battles the highly contagious delta variant, new research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem indicates that the official global COVID-19 death toll of 4.22 million people is short by some 1 million fatalities.
Inaccuracies in some countries and deliberate underreporting in others have combined to downplay the true figure, researchers said.
While this assertion is not unique, the work of economist Ariel Karlinsky and statistician Dr. Dmitry Kobak is the first time the theory has been peer-reviewed, the Times of Israel reported.
The estimate of more than 1 million unreported COVID deaths is based on the 103 countries studied, and is likely to rise as additional nations' data is included in the research, the TOI report explained.
Researchers noted that underreporting is higher in authoritarian countries where dictators are often inclined to suppress information about government failures.
