Israeli health officials and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz made the announcement today at a joint news conference after a meeting to decide on new restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, according to the EFE news agency.
The Naftali Bennett-led government decided to close its borders to foreign visitors two weeks ago, a measure that remains in effect until Christmas Eve.
Should three European countries be added to the list of states banned by Israel in the next 72 hours, travel to those destinations is possible only with a special and appropriate authorization and upon return to complete a quarantine period of between one week and ten days. with responsibility. to Israel.
Following a meeting with his ministers this morning, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that the situation in the Omicron version is dangerous and that Israel may have to re-enter general confinement if strict border control measures are not taken in time. . The government wants to avoid this.
“If we do not take immediate and tough measures now, a new confinement will be necessary”, warned Bennett, who also indicated that “the current vaccination rate in Israel is terrible”, mainly due to the low percentage of vaccinated children. Due to, which in Israel can already be vaccinated from mid-November.
So far, only 5% of children aged 5 years and 9% of children aged 6 to 11 years have received at least one dose, while the 12 to 15 years age group, which can be vaccinated from June , has only the vaccination rate. 60%.
Last week, 42% of new COVID-19 cases in Israel were reported in children aged 5 to 11 years and another 9% in children aged 12 to 15.
Israel’s prime minister also suggested the need to analyze the feasibility of delivering a fourth dose of the vaccine in January, at a time when more than four million people in a country of 9.3 million residents have already received a third dose. . ,
Israel has so far registered 55 cases of infection with the Omicron variant, of which 20 were confirmed at the end of this week.
Overall, 42 of those infected received a second or third dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the past six months, while the remaining 13 have not been vaccinated.
