Faced with the eruption of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Israel decided to avoid the lockdown, offer a fourth dose of the vaccine and resort to the “responsibility” of its citizens.
Following the discovery of the Omicron variant in its territory at the end of November, Israel closed its borders. But he reopened them on Sunday as health authorities faced a record number of cases in a country among the first to start mass vaccinations, although the percentage of fully vaccinated Israelis is now 64.3%.
What is Israel’s strategy in dealing with Omicron?
In the first weeks, the government closed the border “to limit the spread of the virus and we were able to hold it for a month,” said Cyril Cohen, a professor of public health at Bar Ilan University.
This period would allow the authorities to prepare for the tide, encouraging the population to be vaccinated or to receive the booster dose.
But the government has not been able to “strengthen its capacity to carry out diagnostic tests” during the same period, he said.
The number of cases is increasing and the forecasts refer to two to four million cases in a population of nine million.
Considering that the virus is now circulating in the country and that keeping the border closed would have no effect other than hurting the economy, the government decided to open the border to tourists.
The Israeli authorities also reduced the lockdown measures, the restaurant remained open for people who have a vaccination certificate and the tracking of the cases was abandoned.
Today, the strategy is to “transfer part of the crisis management from the government to the citizens”, which means shifting the responsibility to them regarding whether or not to go to certain places, whether or not to carry out diagnostic tests and isolation in the event of an infestation.
What is the risk of this strategy?
“Even if there was a lockdown, we would have many cases, as we have seen in many countries: the lockdown does not prevent infection,” said epidemiologist Haggai Levin, president of the Association of Public Health Physicians.
In his opinion, the risk is “political”. “The change in measures creates confusion and the impression that the government is not in control of the situation, which is true because, in the face of the Omicron variant, the situation is out of control,” he said.
With the outbreak of the cases, which exceeded 37,000 per day, four times as much as the worst periods of the health crisis before the emergence of Omicron, the pressure on the health system and health personnel is increasing.
“We anticipate that many workers in the health system and key sectors of the economy will be affected, so we will look into the possibility of reducing the isolation period” of asymptomatic cases, “said Salman Zarka, head of strategy against Covid in Israel. government.
Will the fourth installment help the authorities deal with Omicron?
As of December 2020, Israel was among the first countries to start mass vaccination of the population, while the booster dose started in the summer.
This allowed vaccination with two doses of 80% of adults and with three doses for about 47% of the population.
But as the vaccine’s effectiveness wears off after many months, the government has given the green light to give a fourth dose to the most vulnerable.
“The third dose offers adequate protection against serious illness and death, but is less effective against infection. “It is not yet clear whether the fourth dose will increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.”
Although the first data from Sheba Hospital show a fivefold increase in antibodies for people who have taken the fourth dose, it will take time to decipher its effectiveness, say Israeli experts.
“In Israel we are used to adapting to emergencies (…) We quickly gave the first and third doses and when we look back we say that it bore fruit,” concludes Haggai Levin.
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