The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

Israel will begin rolling out a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine with immediate effect. The additional dose will be given to people over 60 years-old, medical workers, and people with a suppressed immune system, the prime minister’s office announced, following a recommendation from the country’s panel of coronavirus experts.   

“Wonderful news, do not waste time – go get vaccinated,” Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.  

Those eligible for the fourth dose will be given it provided at least four months have passed since their third dose. 

In a related announcement, the recommended gap between a second and third dose is also being shortened from five months to three months. 

One of the members of the expert panel told Israeli radio Tuesday evening that the decision to go for a fourth dose had not been an easy one. 

“We don’t really have data yet on the level of immunity, like we did when we decided on the third dose, but on the other hand, there is really scary data out there in the rest of the world, Professor Galia Rahav said. 

“In a situation like this, if you don’t act immediately, you miss the train,” she added. 

New measures: The government’s ministerial committee tasked with driving policy on the pandemic also met Tuesday, deciding on a number of new measures in the wake of the new wave of infections brought on by the Omicron variant. 

In particular, schoolchildren living in areas of low vaccine up-take among under-18s could find themselves back in online schooling as early as this week. 

In areas with high Covid-19 case numbers, known as red or orange communities, only classes in which at least 70% of children have received at least one dose of the vaccine will be taught at school. Classes with lower vaccination rates will be taught online. The new policy goes into immediate effect for children age 13 and above; for younger children, it will take effect in three weeks’ time. 

There will also be an increased requirement on Israelis to produce a "Green Pass" when out shopping. For instance, it will now be mandatory to show the pass to enter or work at a store larger than 100 square meters. 

Earlier in the evening it was announced that public sector workplaces would reduce the number of staff working onsite by half. The measure will go into effect on Sunday and be in place for at least a month.  

A few days ago, Prime Minister Bennett asked private sector businesses to encourage staff to work from home as much as possible.  

Some context: Latest Omicron data in Israel shows 341 confirmed cases, of which more than two thirds were in people either fully vaccinated or recently recovered from the disease. In addition, there are more than 800 cases in which there is a high suspicion of the Omicron variant. 

The total number of new Covid-19 cases in Israel topped 1,300 on Monday, a figure not reached since the middle of October. 

The R co-efficient – the number of people infected by each Covid-19 positive person – is at 1.28, its highest figure since the height of the fourth wave at the beginning of August. 

Delta Air Lines is urging the CDC to shorten the isolation period for vaccinated people who become infected with coronavirus.

The letter notes that "over 90 percent" of Delta's workforce is vaccinated.

Delta suggests shortening the isolation period to five days "from symptom onset for those who experience a breakthrough infection," the letter said. "Individuals would be able to end isolation with an appropriate testing protocol."

"Our employees represent an essential workforce to enable Americans who need to travel domestically and internationally," the letter said. 

Spain registered its highest daily number of new Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 49,823 cases recorded in the past day, the country’s health ministry said Tuesday. 

The previous highest figure for Spain was recorded on Jan. 21, 2021, when the country saw a daily increase of 44,357 new coronavirus cases. 

The daily ministry data does not break down cases by variants, but it released a separate report on Tuesday on all variants, saying "at the present time, the data drawn from sequencing of specific PCR indicates that there's a rapid substitution of the Delta variant by the Omicron."

The health ministry also reported Tuesday that 15.77% of all hospital ICU beds are now occupied with coronavirus patients. At the start of the month, a ministry report said the figure was just over 8%.  

Here’s the latest data on vaccination efforts in the United States, published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Note: CDC data on Covid-19 vaccinations are estimates. The agency notes that data on people who are fully vaccinated and those with a booster dose may be underestimated, while data on people with at least one dose may be overestimated. 

Cases of Covid-19 declined by 12% in the United States last week and increased in several other countries, but the US still had the highest number of new cases of any country, according to data published Tuesday in the World Health Organization’s weekly epidemiological report. 

There were 4.1 million new cases around the world from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19, a slight decline from the previous week. The number of new deaths fell 9%, to nearly 45,000. 

The US, the UK, France and Germany reported the highest number of new Covid-19 cases last week. Cases in the US declined by 12% to 725,750, while cases in the UK increased 45%.

The WHO African region had the largest increase in cases, and this region and the Western Pacific were the only ones to see new cases increase in the past seven days, according to WHO data. Europe had the highest total number of new cases and accounted for 63% of new cases reported. 

Covid-19 cases fell 10% in the Americas, but a quarter of countries in the region reported increases in the week. The US, Canada and Argentina had the highest number of new cases in the region. Cases increased 55% in Canada and 91% in Argentina. 

Weekly deaths increased by 15% in the African region, the only region to see any increase in new deaths. The Americas saw a 15% decrease in new deaths, the largest of any region. 

Israel's panel of coronavirus experts has recommended that all over-60s be given a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Medical workers will also be in line for a fourth dose.

“Wonderful news, do not waste time – go get vaccinated,” Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

According to a statement from the health ministry, over-60s, medical staff and those with a suppressed immune system will be eligible for a fourth dose provided four months have passed since their third dose.

The recommended gap between a second and third dose is also being shortened from five months to three months.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is dominant among global virus samples, but the Omicron variant is increasing and poses a risk, according to the World Health Organization’s newest weekly epidemiological report, published Tuesday.

In a section of the report on the spread of variants of concern, the organization said 96% of samples sequenced globally were Delta, down from 99.2% the previous week, and 1.6% were Omicron, up from 0.4% the previous week. 

According to WHO data, the Omicron variant has been confirmed in 106 countries. 

“Recent evidence indicates that Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant and is spreading rapidly, even in countries with documented community transmission and high levels of population immunity,” the organization said. 

Data on severity is limited, but hospitalizations are rising in the UK and South Africa. 

Because of these factors, “the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high.”

The city of Chicago will require proof of vaccination for most businesses that serve food or drinks starting Jan. 3, the mayor announced Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a news conference that the new requirement will be in effect for anyone over the age of five at restaurants, gyms, theaters, bars, and other entertainment and sporting venues that serve food and drink throughout the city. 

All patrons must be fully vaccinated to enter these establishments, she said, and there is no testing option. Unvaccinated employees of these venues will have a test-out option, according to Lightfoot.

Grocery stores, schools, places of worship, office buildings, and residential buildings are exempt from the requirement. 

Lightfoot said hospitalizations in the city are at their highest since the surge last winter and deaths are at a rate higher than the city has seen in months.  “I’ve not been this concerned about Covid-19 since the early days in February 2020,” she said. 

The order will remain in effect until the city deems that the risk is diminished and the city is out of the current surge, Lightfoot said on Tuesday.

New York state reported 22,258 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, marking a decrease of over 1,000 cases since Monday’s report, according to a news release from Governor Kathy Hochul’s office. 

Over 61% of Tuesday’s reported new cases are from New York City, data shows. Tuesday’s case count is the first number in five days that does not break a record for the state’s highest daily count of new cases.

An additional 308 hospitalizations were reported on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total number of Covid-19-related hospitalizations to 4,328, the release states.