At a meeting of Health Ministry officials on Thursday evening, it was decided to hold off on administering a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to select groups in Israel.

The campaign, which was supposed to begin on Sunday and offer 4th doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Israelis over 60 and others at risk was officially pushed off for the time being as Ministry officials are reviewing data with regard to how many cases of the new Omicron variant and Covid-19, in general, are ending with patients who are seriously ill or hospitalized. As the numbers stay low, both in Israel and in Britain, the move to administer the fourth vaccine has yet to be approved. The news was reported first by Channel 13 News.

The network says that if more such data accumulates, then Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash may not back the government advisory plan to vaccinate at-risk or elderly population groups with a fourth dose of the vaccine. Had the plan moved forward, Israel would have been the first country in the world to roll out the fourth dose of the vaccine for certain groups.

The Ministry’s hesitation came as the number of new cases in Israel of COVID-19 confirmed patients continued to rise. According to the latest report, some 1,400 new COVID cases were confirmed on Wednesday, the highest since mid-October.

Serious cases and hospitalizations, however, continue to remain low, as early studies suggest Omicron may not produce as severe symptoms as the Delta variant. As of Thursday morning, there were 9,591 active COVID cases in Israel, with 124 of them hospitalized, 83 in serious condition, and 39 on ventilators. It is unclear how many of the new cases are linked to the new Omicron variant.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)