In recent news, the State of Israel registered around 855 new cases of the deadly coronavirus in a single day. This number recorded on Thursday is the highest since the month of March, with no less than 1.52% of the tests coming up positive. As per an update provided by the Health Ministry on Friday morning, the rise in daily recorded cases comes after the country reported more than 750 cases for three days straight.
From all the people infected, 17 were placed on ventilators, whereas 52 patients were in serious condition. As of now, the death toll in the country stands at 6,443. Around 51% of the newly recorded cases were people who have already been fully inoculated. 59.6% of the patients currently in serious condition have also been vaccinated.
Amidst the rising number of infections in Israel, the Prime Minister of the country, Naftali Bennett, has decided to schedule an emergency meeting with experts, as well as ministers from Public Security, Defense, Health, Economy, Transportation, and Finance ministries.
Just a day ago, Bennett made an announcement regarding ‘Happy Badge’, which is an outline for hosting mass gatherings, as an attempt to bring about a reduction in rates of infection. From Wednesday onwards, access to weddings and similar events, consisting of over 100 guests, will only be reserved for specific individuals. As per the Prime Minister, along with health minister, Nitzan Horowitz, and economy minister, Orna Barbivay, this will include those who have been fully vaccinated, can present a recently taken negative test of the disease, and have recovered from the coronavirus.
The new system introduced by Bennett will only be relevant for indoor gatherings that serve food and drinks, and people can either sit or stand. No limit will be placed on the number of participants and attendees will have to wear masks.
In other news, a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that emergency authorizations may come sooner than expected to vaccinate children aged below 12. Since clinical trials are scheduled to start in fall, the vaccine could be approved for youngsters in this age group as early as midwinter.
Pfizer is waiting on results of clinical trials for children, aged between five and 11, in the month of September. The data for children aged two to five will also come afterwards. On the other hand, it may take longer to accumulate data on the clinical trials of children younger than this.
As of now, Moderna has also provided a similar timeline. One of the primary researchers of the Moderna KidCOVE clinical trials, Dr. Buddy Creech, referred to the trials, saying that there is a lot of work that needs to be done before the vaccine can be approved for children aged five and below.
According to him, it is vital for children to be vaccinated, if the world wants to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Youngsters are readily becoming the main group to be affected by the deadly disease, while numerous adults have already received the vaccination.