Israel has already stepped up its programme of third “booster” jabs as cases of the Delta variant continue to rise in the world's most vaccinated nation.
Over 600,000 Israelis aged 60 and over have now received their third dose of the Pfizer vaccine as the government considers rolling out booster jabs to over-45s as well.
Israel secured a large supply of the Pfizer vaccines in exchange for trading medical data.
The country has among the highest proportion of fully vaccinated adults in the world, but there are reports of waning effectiveness of jabs in the face of the Delta variant.
This was particularly prominent in people who had received their first two doses more than six months ago.
The government had largely lifted coronavirus restrictions by May following a successful vaccination drive.
But as the Delta variant pushes case numbers up again, it has reinstated some restrictions on gathering indoors and wearing masks.
Earlier this month Israel started giving third vaccine doses to immunosuppressed individuals and citizens over the age of 60.
On Thursday, Israel reported 6,525 new cases of Covid-19 and 17 deaths as numbers surge in recent days because of the Delta variant.
At least 6,580 Israelis have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to Health Ministry figures.
On top of this, the number of people receiving hospital treatment over the past week has doubled to 680, with 400 serious cases.
This comes as Israel’s government, on Wednesday, pushed ahead with a set of new Covid-19 restrictions including digital vaccine passports and tighter restrictions on mass gatherings.
The government is stepping up the capacity of its testing facilities, already carrying out the fourth-highest number of Covid-19 tests per capita in the world.
This is to allow thousands of children to be tested daily when schools reopen on September 1st.
Data coming out of Israel still indicates that the vaccine is working, with the chances of someone aged 60 and over without a jab developing serious symptoms being 10 times higher than that of a vaccinated person of the same age.
On Wednesday, prime minister Neftali Bennett said: “We are turning over every stone to ensure that we can get through this wave without restrictions that will spell mass destruction for the Israeli economy.”
This was amongst rumours of plans for lockdowns during the Jewish festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur next month.
Naftali Bennett also backed the interior minister, Ayelet Shaked, who came under fire for saying Israel needs to “know how to contain deaths” in the current wave to protect the economy.
The government has tightened restrictions on foreign travel, preventing nearly all non-Israelis from entering the country and requiring most Israelis abroad to quarantine on their return.
