As the success of Israel's COVID vaccination campaign has allowed the country to reopen, the government is now working on acquiring vaccines to vaccinate children ages 12-15.

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In an interview with Army Radio Wednesday, Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levy said, "based on conversations with manufacturers, I assume that we will receive an FDA approval for the children's inoculation in early May, and we will begin vaccinating at the end of May."

Two weeks ago, Levi expressed concern over vaccine shortages because "more countries now see the power of vaccines," and demand in Pfizer and Moderna vaccines increased "due to the risk of blood clots reported in response to AstraZeneca inoculations."

Nevertheless, on Wednesday Levy said there would be no vaccine shortage.

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Coronavirus Commissioner Professor Nachman Ash warned Wednesday that the relentless COVID infection rate may drive the Health Ministry to advise the government to impose another lockdown before the March 23 election. 

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In an interview with local radio station 103FM, Ash said that the decision will depend on the morbidity rate and warned that the lockdown might be extended until after the election. 

Should a nationwide lockdown be imposed, it would be the fourth time the Israeli economy will shutter in the span of one year.

Ash attributed the persistent COVID reproduction rate to the British variant of the coronavirus, which significantly increases the risk of serious illness and hospitalization. 

The Health Ministry reported Wednesday that of the 91,122 Israelis screened from the virus on Tuesday, 4,265 tested positive, placing the infection rate at 4.8%. 

Israel has reported 787,211 cases and 5,797 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. To date, 738,681 Israelis have recovered from the disease. As of Wednesdy, some 1,195 COVID patients were hospitalized, 717 of them are in serious condition and 224 are on ventilators. 

So far, 4,811,712 Israelis have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 3,503,621 have been fully immunized.

Several other mutations have made their way to Israel, as well. Most recently, the Health Ministry detected three cases of the COVID strain found in New York. 

All three infections were diagnosed in members of one family, the ministry clarified.

"We will see more and more virus mutations, that is the nature of a virus," Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Hezi Levi, adding that the ministry was doing its utmost to detect variants early on.

Addressing the upcoming elections, Levi said, "We are walking a thin line between the need to get Israelis to the polling stations and the need to curb the mutations, but that is the current reality."

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Addressing the growing infection rate in the Arab sector, Ayman Saif, the head of the Health Ministry's coronavirus response in the community, said that 70% of the at-risk Arab population had been vaccinated. 

"Two weeks ago, the British variant had not reached the Arab sector yet, but now it is significant," he said. "We will focus on the Bedouin population, young people, and the residents of East General. We will use Ramadan as a decisive factor." 

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Every Israeli over the age of 16 is eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccination, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday. This makes Israel the first country in the world to offer immunization to the general public regardless of prioritized risk groups.

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Israel has recorded 671,459 coronavirus cases and 4,947 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020. Some 589,616 Israelis have recovered from the virus.

Health Ministry data showed that so far, 298,233 Israelis have received the first dose of the vaccination, and 1,906,942 have been fully immunized.

The Health Ministry reported of the 85,925 coronavirus tests it administered on Wednesday, 7,358 came back positive.

There are currently 76,896 active cases in the country. Some 1,768 Israelis are hospitalized, 393 are in critical condition, and 315 are on ventilators.

"Take advantage of this opportunity that almost no country in the world has," Health Minister Yuli Edelstein tweeted, calling on the public to get vaccinated. "Come en masse because this is the only way to overcome the coronavirus – together."

The decision to expand the inoculation drive to teens came in the aftermath of a drastic drop in the vaccination rate in recent days, as the vaccination sites that used to have long lines became almost deserted.

"When the campaign started, we used to check every person, according to their appointment and ID," an official as a vaccination site told Israel Hayom. "Now it's much more flexible. After a security check, we let people in and the medical staff can decide whether to vaccinate [that person] or not. From what I saw today, everyone who came got inoculated."

"The only way to exit the lockdown and overcome the pandemic is to continue to get vaccinated with determination and persistence," Director-General of the Health Ministry Professor Hezi Levi said, also calling on the public to get inoculated, adding that "the decrease [in the public's] responsiveness [to get vaccinated] is very worrying."

Meanwhile, the Bedouin sector in Israel refrains from getting vaccinated and even outright refuses to do so. In Rahat, Israel's largest Bedouin city, only 9.8% of the residents have received their vaccinations, 5.1% of them received both doses.

As for the ultra-Orthodox city of Beitar Illit, 9% of its residents have been vaccinated. However, the city has a population of about 65,000 residents, 70% of whom are under the age of 18. Beitar Illit has 992 residents over the age of 60, 600 of whom have already received their vaccinations.

Southern Israeli settlements Lehavim and Omer are leading the country in terms of vaccinations, the local community council announced. As of Wednesday, 65.45% of Lehavim residents have received their vaccination, 47% have received both. As for Omar, 64.62% have been inoculated with the first dose, 46.8% with the second one as well.

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Nearly 1,000 (998) Israelis have died of the coronavirus since the beginning of January 2021, the Health Ministry reported Sunday morning, marking January as the month with the most coronavirus deaths. October 2020 saw 961 COVID fatalities.

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The ministry reported that of the 30,832 tests it administered on Saturday, 2,394 or 8% came back positive.

As of Sunday morning, there were 75,053 active cases in the country. A total of 1,914 COVID patients were hospitalized, 426 in critical condition, and 316 on ventilators. Israel has reported 595,097 cases and 4,361 deaths since the pandemic reached Israel early last year.

Nevertheless, there is hope that the country might be headed towards normalcy. Health Ministry Director General Professor Hezi Levi said in an interview on Sunday morning that the third lockdown would not be extended after next Sunday and that hopefully, at this stage, they can begin to gradually exit the current lockdown.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said, however, that the country was not out of the woods just yet.

"The morbidity rate is decreasing very slowly. Most likely, it has to do with the mutations but also incompliance with the lockdown rules, Edelstein said, calling on Israelis to adhere to the lockdown guidelines.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled on Sunday to present to the government a proposal to cease all international flights to and from Israel for two weeks, with the aim of stopping any additional coronavirus mutations from entering the country.

At the same time, the Knesset is set to hold the first hearing of the "fines bill" that was proposed to the government earlier but was stuck in limbo. The bill proposes to increase the fines for those who violate coronavirus and lockdown regulations.

Netanyahu asked Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin to bring forward the hearing of the bill. The aim is to hold the first hearing on Monday and pass the bill as quickly as possible. The prime minister's request most likely stems from the public criticism against him for being lenient with fining the ultra-Orthodox sector for violating the lockdown regulations.

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Starting Sunday, public hospitals will no longer accept patients brought in by ambulance unless their lives are in immediate danger, the hospitals announced Saturday.

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The hospitals reported a dire lack of resources that has resulted in equipment shortages and the inability to pay suppliers, as well as meet ongoing operating expenses.

Officials from hospitals Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Laniado Hospital in Netanya, Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, and three hospitals in Nazareth met with Finance Ministry representatives on Thursday to negotiate budget raises, but the meeting yielded no results.

After ministry representatives refused to continue the negotiations, hospital officials called upon Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Israel Katz to get involved in the matter as soon as possible and resolve the negotiations.

Health Ministry Director General Professor Hezi Levi condemned the hospitals' decision, saying that it did "not comply with Health Ministry procedures" and that patient care would continue as usual, alongside continued effort to regulate budget needs.

"I am aware of the budgetary difficulties you are experiencing," Levi said. "The Health Minister and I are dealing with the problem thoroughly [together] with the Finance Ministry. We will not accept a situation in which patients are used as means in a negotiation."

Hundreds of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers protested on Thursday outside the Finance Ministry and the prime minister's home in Jerusalem as a result of the situation in their hospitals.

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Even though governments' reactions to the coronavirus pandemic have largely been similar throughout the Western world, some argue that the response has been disproportionate to the level of threat posed.

Three Israeli scientists from Tel Aviv University, Profs Udi Kimron, Ariel Munitz, and Motti Gerlic, have formed the Common Sense Model, which advocates a shift of focus to the protection and care of at-risk groups, rather than imposing collective restrictions that aim to curb infections in society.

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Last week, when the government was deliberating on the possibility of a third lockdown, more than 100 Israeli physicians signed a letter excoriating the government's policies employed to combat the coronavirus.

"We strongly object to the coercive measures against the spread of the coronavirus," the letter stated.

"The coercive measures now deliberated constitute a destructive infringement of fundamental civil rights, and their enforcement lacks medical justification with a black flag raised above them."

A week later, Israel entered its third national lockdown, which was initially poised to last two weeks but could extend beyond that time frame, the head of Israel's coronavirus taskforce Professor Nachman Ash said.

"The people who made the calls were wrong from the beginning and it is very hard for them to accept it," Dr. Tomer Cooks, a faculty member at the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said. "To them, it doesn't matter that data from all over the world showed that there is no positive correlation between masks or lockdowns and success.

"I have objected to the lockdown idea since February. There is no logic in applying such brute force on the entire society.

"At least in March it was forgiven; panic was everywhere and many felt it would save us. But after so much time has passed, how can we still support this madness?"

Meanwhile, Israel continues its vaccination drive that started on Dec. 19, with the jab administered to almost a million citizens. Health-care providers give roughly 150,000 shots a day. The government's top priority are Israelis over the age of 60, at-risk patients, and healthcare workers.

According to Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, starting January 10 and running through the end of the month, the vaccination centers will only serve those who have already received the first out of the two necessarry doses, so that they can follow up with scheduled booster shots.

Director General of the Health Ministry Hezi Levi said during a press conference Thursday that the vaccination of the younger population will begin in February, pointing out that Israel is the world leader in the number of vaccines administered per 100 people and that Health Ministry's goal is to innoculate 5 million Israelis by March 2021.

Several citizens outside the vulnerable cohorts have already managed to get vaccinated, often as clinic "walk-ins" who secured surplus injections that would otherwise have had to be thrown away at the end of the day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing another election in March, said on Sunday that the vaccination program could allow the country to emerge from the pandemic as early as February.

Israel is vaccinating Palestinians in east Jerusalem. In Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, the first shipments of vaccines are expected in two weeks, Palestinian officials said, without providing details on their number or manufacturer.

As of midweek, 652 Israelis who received a Pfizer vaccination reported mild side effects, including pain, tiredness, dizziness, limited range of motion, and neurological symptoms like blurred vision.

Nineteen Israelis reported numbness or tingling of the tongue, a phenomenon that worried the Epidemic Management Team the most, as it was not reported as one of the side effects of the Pfizer study. The Team contacted Pfizer who replied that other countries also reported this side effect, but no special treatment is needed for it, and patients can go ahead and receive the second dose of the vaccine.

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Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported Friday that of the 101,000 tests conducted the day before, 5,804 came back positive, raising the positivity rate to 5.7%.

There are currently 45,373 active cases in the country. Some 1,102 patients are being hospitalzied, of those, 678 are in critical condition and 178 are on ventilaltors.

Israel has reported 426,749 coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in March. The current death toll stands at 3,338.

This article was first published by i24NEWS

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