The fight against the Omicron variant
: Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said tonight (Wednesday) in an interview with Shelly Yachimovich and Vigal Guetta here on Network B that people aged 60 and over can get vaccinated for Corona in another dose from next week, and can even get vaccinated without making an appointment in advance.
"I pray that the omicron will be less violent, but people who are more vulnerable should be as prepared as possible," the health minister said, stressing that the decision is professional and not political: "I have no doubt that Health Ministry director general Professor Nachman Ash will approve the decision."
The health minister also referred to the possibility of imposing additional restrictions, in addition to those set yesterday in the Corona Cabinet, and said he would do everything possible to prevent it, but that it depended on morbidity data - and that if additional restrictions were set, he would insist the state pay business compensation.
"The booster efficiency drops after four to five months."
Minister Horowitz, Photo: Noam Moskowitz, Knesset Spokeswoman
On Finance Minister Lieberman's statement that the Omicron is like the flu, he said: "Unfortunately, this is a very unfounded statement. We have already seen that the disease is severe and offensive. It is very contagious - several times more than the Delta."
"We consult with bodies around the world and researchers in the UK and US and work carefully. Even when it was decided to give the booster we were first and there were complaints and now everyone has learned from us. Booster efficiency goes down after four to five months and older people are at risk," the minister said.
As you may recall, last night the team for the treatment of epidemics in the Ministry of Health strongly recommended that a fourth vaccine be given to people aged 60 and over, to health care workers, patients at risk and workers with the elderly.
The decision, which has no precedent in the world, was made after it was first reported in Israel Today earlier this month that the Ministry of Health is considering giving a fourth vaccine.
It is estimated that the vaccination campaign will be launched in the coming days.
The team of experts advising the Ministry of Health: "The coefficient of infection of the omicron is enormous" // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
The head of the team, Dr. Boaz Lev, said today during a press conference that "the infection rate of the omicron is high: in Germany 3.1, in the US close to three. These are huge infection factors that we have not seen before. In previous waves we were 1.2 and we thought it was terrible. "The variant has become dominant. There is a very great uncertainty, every time you return to the starting box and do not know how much the variant causes a serious and severe disease. It is clear that the severity is milder than the delta but we still do not know what will happen next."
He added: "There is a thing called the price of error. If a wave comes and we have not vaccinated what is the price of it? Serious morbidity? Mortality? Isolation? This is the price of not vaccinating. We will take advantage of the next few days to get more information from countries where the wave is rising. "There is flu and respiratory illness. It is not just morbidity and mortality. If a growing team of caregivers becomes ill there will be a lot of isolation and infection and the functioning of the health system may be impaired."
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