The extent and severity of the morbidity that will be seen in Israel in the near future depend on many variables.
The main data missing for evaluation are the proportion of patients in need of hospitalization, and mortality due to infection with the omicron strain.
This strain is expected to be the dominant strain in view of its increased infectivity, and apparently, we will not be able to prevent its rapid and widespread spread.
At this stage, the spread of the omicron in Israel is still limited, and it is responsible for about seven percent of all morbidity cases in the country.
We collect data and learn about the strain and the severity of the disease caused by it;
Meanwhile, we do not see hospitals as an increase or impact of the strain, in part due to its low prevalence in Israel now.
But never resilience.
Queue for vaccinations at Ben Gurion Airport, in June // Photo: Yoni Rickner
We must learn from previous waves that the scope of vaccines is the key to coping.
We have control over the scope of vaccines, and as a result, the ability to reduce morbidity in the country - and especially its severity.
We are glad to see that there has been an increase in the rate of vaccinated children, and that more and more parents have stopped hesitating, but that is not enough;
We must continue to increase the vaccine volume in children aged 5 and over.
Equally important, we must increase the proportion of vaccinated people in the third vaccine.
Even today, despite all the data already collected about the effect of the impulse dose, about two million people were vaccinated in the second dose but have not yet received the third dose.
The restrictive measures set by the government allow for a delay in the spread of the virus, thus helping us gain valuable time - which must be exploited, at a much more significant scale and pace, to expand immunization.
The vaccine is very safe and effective, and can be determined based on a great deal of well-founded information.
It's time to stop hesitating.
The author is the director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Kaplan Medical Center of the Clalit Group
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