Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Photo: Bloomberg]
The Israeli government is planning to roll out a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
This is after the country’s pandemic experts recommended a fourth booster for persons aged 60 years and above, and health workers.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the plan and told officials to start preparing.
“This is wonderful news that will assist us in getting through the Omicron wave that is engulfing the world,” said Bennett.
This will make Israel the first country to start administering a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose.
However, only about 63 percent of its population of 9.3 million has had two doses.
The move follows increased infections driven by the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.
Israel confirmed the first known death of a patient with the Omicron strain on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health says there are at least 340 confirmed Omicron cases in the country.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Israel has confirmed more than 1.36 million Covid infections since the start of the pandemic, with over 8,200 deaths.
The country has now tightened its Covid restrictions with a wider travel ban to countries including the US, Germany, Italy and Canada to try to curb the spread of the virus.