According to the Israeli Health Ministry, omicron’s rapid expansion could leave the population almost unprotected against COVID infection, prompting a decision to grant some people fourth vaccine doses.

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The ministry said, switching from delta to omicron would provide only 25% protection against infection in a month for people aged 60 and up, compared to 75% currently. Officials released a presentation earlier this week to support their decision to give people in that age bracket, as well as medical workers, a fourth shot.

According to the ministry, booster shots that are not “fresh” — that is, ones that were given three to four months ago — have a limited effectiveness in preventing illness.

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The presentation showed a new dose of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine will increase protection to 70%-90 percent for the first month and 50%-70 percent for the second month, alleviating the load on hospitals.

The decision comes after the first recorded death of a patient with the omicron strain in Israel.

On Tuesday, an Israeli hospital confirmed his death, but noted he had a variety of serious pre-existing problems.

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The man in his 60s died on Monday at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, two weeks after being brought to the coronavirus ward.

According to a hospital statement, the patient had a number of critical ailments. “His morbidity was primarily due to pre-existing illnesses, not a coronavirus-related respiratory infection,” the report stated.

According to the Israeli Health Ministry, there are at least 340 instances of omicron in Israel.

To try to stem the spread of the virus, Israel has already increased a travel ban to include the United States, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Canada this week.

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It has also imposed restrictions on dining in shopping malls and recommended that children in areas with high morbidity and low vaccination rates learn at home. It has also reduced public sector employees’ office attendance by half to encourage more remote work.

According to his office, Defense Minister Benny Gantz has ordered the military’s Homefront Command to prepare for 5,000 new cases every day.

In Israel’s 9.3 million population, more than 4.1 million people have got three doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

Teenagers and toddlers continue to have poor vaccination rates. A single coronavirus vaccine has been given to less than 1% of children aged five to eleven.