Despite Nationwide Booster Shots... Israel Records Highest Cases in 8 Months

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Israel, the first country in the world to administer booster shots to the entire population, recorded the highest number of new COVID-19 cases ever due to the spread of the Delta variant.

According to The Guardian and others on the 31st (local time), the number of new cases in Israel on the previous day was 10,947, surpassing the peak of the third wave of COVID-19 on January 18, when there were 10,118 cases.

Israel, which proceeded with vaccination at the fastest pace in the world, once saw the number of new cases drop to single digits, but the spread of the Delta variant has caused a surge in patients.

The total number of new cases over one week was below 2,000 from April to July, but it has now surged more than 30 times to 61,000.

However, the number of severe patients slightly decreased, and infection indicators other than the number of new cases, such as the positive rate relative to total tests (7.65%) and the reproduction number (1.09%), have slightly improved.

Israel's daily newspaper Haaretz analyzed that "booster shots have influenced the improvement of infection indicators." Israel began administering booster shots to those aged 60 and over in July and has gradually expanded the target group to include those aged 12 and above.