A Palestinian health worker collects a swab sample for a COVID-19 test at a temporary vaccination center set up in Gaza City on October 23, 2021. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
The Latest:
- 456,632 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 448,487 recoveries; 4,742 deaths
- Of those who tested positive, 240,859 live in the West Bank and 185,417 in the Gaza Strip
- 1,336,174 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19; 1,321,919 recoveries; 8,138 deaths
Palestinian health officials expanded their vaccination drive on Thursday and approved shots for children age 12 and up. The previous regulations limited shots to children age 16 and older.
The move comes as Palestinians continue to gain grounds on expanding their campaign to immunize most of the population against the coronavirus. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, around 30% of the overall population is vaccinated, which accounts for close to 50% of the targeted group, meaning those who are old enough to get a jab.
At least 2,718,157 doses have been administered, 1,971,673 in the West Bank and another 746,484 in the Gaza Strip. As of Wednesday, 115,971 Palestinians have received a third dose, of whom 100,237 are in the West Bank and 15,734 are in the Gaza Strip.
New confirmed cases keep dropping, averaging around 220 a day over the last week. This is a major decrease from the nearly 3,000 new cases a day in September. Most of the drop comes from a reduction in cases in the West Bank where vaccinations are more extensive. Gaza still accounts for around 60% of new cases.
Israel to vaccinate children age 5 and up
Back in June, when the delta variant first emerged, Israeli health officials, opened up vaccines to children age 12 and older. Earlier this week a panel of health experts recommended vaccinating children as young as five years old. The updated guidelines will go into effect in the next week.
The head of the Ministry of Health’s epidemiological team, Dr. Tal Brosh, told Haaretz the ministry seeks to “administer the shots within the short timeframe of three weeks – just as we did with adults – because it creates immunity faster.”
Israel conducting ‘war game drill’ over fake variant
War game drills are not unusual for Israel or its armed forces. Entire Palestinian villages in the Jordan Valley have been ordered closed military zones for such exercises. But, in a first, it will run a “war game drill for a strain of a new variant that does not yet exist,” announced Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett yesterday. The training will take place in Jerusalem at the National Management Center.
“The most threatening thing is not even the current situation but what we do not yet know,” Bennett said. “Just like the Delta strain broke out violently, other, even more, deadly and more infectious strains could come, which could bypass the vaccine.”
To clarify, there is no new variant with high breakthrough infections. The war game is a simulation to test for preparedness in “extreme scenarios.”
