As Israel’s vaccination drive slows down in recent days, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that everyone over age 16 can be vaccinated beginning on Thursday. Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Chezy Levy told Ynet on Wednesday that the decision was made due to the recent decline in people showing up to be vaccinated, leaving vaccination centers almost empty. Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said on Wednesday that hundreds of vaccine doses had to be discarded due to the low turnout since they cannot be stored for long once they have been opened. Additionally, there has been an alarming rise in the number of seriously ill patients in younger age groups, a result of the British variant. Hospitals reported on Wednesday that 15.1% of seriously ill patients are under the age of 50 and health officials said that there has been a 250% increase in seriously ill coronavirus cases in people under the age of 40 in the past month. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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