Israel on Monday reported yet again another glum record of 83,088 confirmed cases on Sunday, as the Omicron variant has already infected 10% of the country's population in January alone.
The Health Ministry said that since the beginning of the month 1,000,225 Israelis were infected by the coronavirus, and a total of 207 people have passed away.
Since the start of the pandemic, 8,458 people have succumbed to coronavirus-related complications in Israel, four of whom died on Monday.
According to the ministry, the chances to be infected with COVID-19 among unvaccinated people aged 60 and over, is 6.5 times higher than those who had received the vaccines, while the odds of people under the age of 60 are 2.7 times higher.
The latest strain, which has been shown to be particularly contagious, but less severe in vaccinated people than the Delta variant, raises hopes that the pandemic is beginning to move to its endemic stage.
But medical teams in Israeli hospitals are working tirelessly to treat an influx of COVID patients, with 814 patients hospitalized in serious condition, which is another grim record in the current wave.
On Sunday only 1,038 Israelis received the first dose of vaccines, and 2,771 received their booster jab. While on Saturday the numbers were even lower, when just 303 people received the first shot, and 981 received the third one.
Health experts believe the reason for the low vaccination rates is the continuous public and media discourse about abolishing the COVID-19 Green Pass which gummed up Israel's vaccination campaign.
Regarding mortality and seriously ill patients, in the first weeks of the Omicron wave health experts estimated that most of the patients were infected with the Delta variant and not Omicron. Now, however, the belief is that also among seriously ill patients, the rate of infection with Omicron is very high.
Also on Sunday, Prof. Ran Balicer, who heads the panel of experts on pandemics and also advises the Health Ministry, published a report that said only 2% of all those who were infected in Israel, were battling the Delta variant rather than Omicron.
First published: 17:35, 01.24.22