Despite the alarming rise in Omicron coronavirus cases in Israel and worldwide, it seems the morbidity remains under control in the country. The Health Ministry reported Monday morning that of the 95,320 Israelis it screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, 521 (0.60%) tested positive.
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There are more than 5,000 active cases, 21 of which are Omicron and officials warned that several dozens more could be expected as more tests are analyzed. As of Monday morning, 153 patients are hospitalized. Of those, 112 are in serious condition.
Israel has reported 1,346,243 coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, including 8,204 deaths.
Thus far, 4,100,145 Israelis over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, 5,782,034 received two doses, and 6,371,876 got their first jabs.
Meanwhile, Israeli health officials are expected to discuss this week authorizing a fourth COVID vaccine booster shot for immunocompromised individuals, according to Channel 12 news.
The Health Ministry's vaccination advisory committee and the team in charge of epidemics will only be considering the fourth dose for the vulnerable group that has not developed antibodies, not the general population. However, the third dose was also originally targeted to the immunocompromised but was authorized for the general population at a later point.
The experts will also talk about vaccination guidelines for children with neurological disorders and inoculating kids who have recovered from COVID.
At-risk individuals in Britain are already eligible to receive the fourth booster shot. The country's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said last week that people vulnerable to COVID can get jabbed a fourth time three months after receiving the third booster shot.
Britain has reported that the number of Omicron cases in the country doubled in less than three days. The figure is similar to that of South Africa, where the new mutation was first detected. However, what is especially alarming, is that contrary to the African country, most Brits are vaccinated. Experts fear that the latest data confirms that Omicron might have a heightened ability to evade vaccines.
Omicron has been classified as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has 50 genetic changes to the original virus.
Singapore-based infectious disease expert Dr. Leong Hoe Nam warned last week that Omicron will likely become the dominant strain in the world in the coming months.
He said that although inoculations against the new variant can be developed quickly, they will need to be tested for 3-6 months to prove that they are effective. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had previously said that shots could be ready in less than 100 days.
"Omicron will dominate and overwhelm the whole world in three to six months," Hoe Nam told CNBC news. "By the time the vaccines come, practically everyone will be infected with Omicron given its" high infectiousness and transmissibility.
The Delta strain, which currently accounts for 99% of worldwide COVID infections, started becoming more common in the Indian state of Maharashtra in March 2021 and was dominant globally by July.
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Alarming data on Omicron has prompted the Israeli government to take strict measures in curbing the spread of Omicron in the country. It decided, among other things, to add 50 African countries, including South Africa, onto its no-fly list. This means that Israelis are not allowed to travel to those countries, and those who return from there would have to self-isolate upon arrival.
Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, who was born in Ethiopia, signaled on Sunday that racism potentially influenced the government's decision to ban travel from parts of Africa.
She condemned the bans during a cabinet meeting, asking why Africa was shunned while other "white countries" with confirmed Omicron cases remained open, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responded by telling her that the decision was led by statistics, not bias.
"The reality is that two weeks ago, there were hundreds of people in Africa who were infected, and now there are thousands," he explained, the paper reported.
Israel is one of many states which recently elected to restrict flights from Africa, citing concerns over a domestic spread of Omicron from travelers.
The travel bans were condemned by South Africa's foreign ministry, who said the state "should be applauded and not punished" for discovering the variant.
Additionally, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the slew of restrictions, which he called "travel apartheid."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
