Infection Cases Soar And Reporting First Death Of Omicron Variant Patient, Israel Prepares Fourth Dose Of Vaccine

Illustration of COVID-19 vaccination in Israel. (Wikimedia Commons/Amos Ben Gershom/Israel Government Press Office)

JAKARTA - Israel has announced that it will offer a fourth dose of its COVID-19 vaccine amid soaring cases of COVID-19 infection, as well as the first death related to the Omicron variant.

This fourth dose is planned to be prioritized for health workers and people aged over 60 years. Israel could be the first country to administer the fourth dose, having previously been the first to administer the third dose.

A panel of Health Ministry experts recommended the fourth injection late Tuesday, a decision Prime Minister Naftali Bennett quickly hailed as "great news that will help us tackle the Omicron wave that is spreading around the world."

"Israelis are the first in the world to receive the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and we are continuing to pioneer with the fourth dose as well," he said in remarks delivered by his office, citing Al Jazeera, December 22.

Israel's Ministry of Health said in a statement that immunocompromised people would also be eligible for the fourth injection, which it said could be given to them, their parents and the medical team at least four months after the third injection.

The decision follows the first known death in Israel of a patient with the Omicron variant. An Israeli hospital on Tuesday confirmed the death, but said he suffered from a number of serious pre-existing conditions.

Meanwhile, the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba said the man in his 60s died on Monday, two weeks after he was admitted to the coronavirus ward. A hospital statement said the patient was suffering from various serious illnesses.

"The morbidity mainly comes from pre-existing disease and not from respiratory infections arising from the coronavirus," the hospital said.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry said there were at least 340 known cases of the Omicron variant in Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel this week has expanded travel bans to countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Canada to try to curb the spread of the virus.

In addition, Israel also issued restrictions on eating in shopping malls and instructed that children in communities with high morbidity and low vaccination rates should study from home.

These provisions include reducing office attendance by up to 50 percent for public sector employees to encourage more remote work.

Separately, Defense Secretary Benny Gantz ordered Military Front Command to prepare for a possible 5.000 new cases per day, his office said.

To note, more than 4.1 million Israelis have received three doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the country of about 9.3 million people.

The inoculation rate remains low among adolescents and children. Less than one percent of children aged five to 11 have received a single shot of the coronavirus.