Israel on Tuesday reported 5,449 new daily coronavirus cases diagnosed a day earlier, the highest the figure has been since October 5.
The Health Ministry said 99,758 COVID-19 tests had been conducted on Monday, putting the contagion rate at 5.6%, also the highest in weeks.
At least 593 patients are in serious condition, of whom 146 are ventilated. The official death toll now stands at 3,256 after 18 more patients died in the past 24 hours.
In the meantime, health officials said that since the start of Israel's national coronavirus vaccination campaign less than two weeks ago, nearly 500,000 people have already been inoculated.
The ministry said 115,400 Israelis were vaccinated against coronavirus on Monday alone, bringing the total number of inoculated in the country to 495,000.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Monday that Israel has the highest proportion of vaccine recipients per capita in the world.
All those who had been inoculated so far, only received the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine, which still does not guarantee complete immunity to the virus. But, 21 days after the initial shot, those who have been vaccinated will receive another jab. A week after receiving the second vaccine, they are expected to have a sufficiently high level of antibodies to protect them against COVID.