The highly contagious Delta variant continued to subside in Israel on Thursday with new cases having dropped to a three-month low. The Health Ministry reported on Friday morning that of the 87,444 Israelis it screened for the coronavirus the day before, 983 (1.19%) tested positive.
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The reproduction rate, which relates to the number of people each confirmed carrier infects, stands at 0.76. There are currently 14,505 active cases in the country with 448 Israelis hospitalized. Of those, 311 are in serious condition.
According to the data, 78.1% (244 people) of those in serious condition are unvaccinated. Of the other 69 patients, 48 have been fully inoculated and 21 received two vaccine doses but did not get their third jabs.
Israel has reported 1,321,591 cases, including 8,037 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Thus far, 5,710,397 have been vaccinated twice, 6,215,675 received one dose and 3,888,606 got their third jabs as well.
Also on Thursday, the government said that tourists will be allowed back in Israel starting on Nov. 1 in small groups and under various limitations, The move comes despite the newly discovered strain of the Delta variant, known as AY4.2, which could be more transmissible.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said that foreigners who were fully vaccinated less than six months ago, or who have received a booster shot more recently, will be eligible to enter the country. People who recovered from COVID-19 less than six months ago may also visit.
The rules recognize most internationally recognized vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sinovak and Sinopharm – but not Russia's Sputnik. Bennett's office said people coming from "red" countries with high outbreaks would not be permitted, while officials will monitor new variants, including AY4.2.
The decision could give a boost to the struggling tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the lack of tourists. It comes just ahead of the busy Christmas season, when tens of thousands of foreigners visit holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, in Judea and Samaria.
Senior cabinet ministers, along with health, tourism, economic and security experts, took part in Thursday's decision.
The Health Ministry said it will recommend that visitors from countries where the strain has been found be tested every 48 hours for the duration of their stay.
It was unclear how this intensive testing could be carried out on a practical level.
Currently, anyone who enters Israel – regardless of their citizenship or vaccination status – must undergo a PCR test before departing from a foreign country and after landing at Ben-Gurion Airport.
Health officials said Thursday that five cases of AY4.2 had been retroactively diagnosed since the first known case in Israel was confirmed on Tuesday in a sample taken from a young boy who returned to Israel from Moldova.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday cleared booster shots of Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccines.
The CDC also approved giving people the freedom to mix and match any of the three vaccines approved for use in the US, the agency said in a statement.
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The CDC approval came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration authorized booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
A booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech was 95.6% effective against the coronavirus when compared to a vaccinated group that did not get the third shot, data from a large study released by the companies showed on Thursday.
The companies said the booster was tested on 10,000 participants aged 16 and older who had received two doses in its earlier trials. A booster administered about 11 months after the second shot had a favorable safety profile and worked against the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, they said.
