Amid fears over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, several health experts on Sunday called on Israel to immediately prepare restrictions on gatherings ahead of Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Prof. Cyrille Cohen, an expert on immunology from Bar-Ilan University told Ynet that New Year's Eve celebrations are "distressing" because the variant is more infectious than other strains and can therefore infect those who are vaccinated or have already recovered from the virus.
"Countries abroad did well to put a cap on festivities and gatherings. Though we still don't know what would be the situation in a country like Israel, where many have received the booster, it is best to prevent unnecessary gatherings."
Prof. Galia Rahav, head of the infectious disease department at the Sheba Medical Center, said that there is still a lot of "conflicting" data regarding the Omicron strain.
"We still don't know whether it causes severe illness or not, and there are contrary reports from many places around the world," she said.
"We still don't know whether the protection granted by the booster shot erodes over time or if it will cause severe illness among adults. We still don't know."
Rahav said that although Israel operated very well when it came to restriction entry into the country, since then, little has been done.
"The Omicron is here and we are not vaccinating more or enforcing restrictions," she said. "I think that New Year's and Purim celebration should be limited. I think the right thing to do is not partake in such gatherings until we know more about the strain."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday the fifth wave of the pandemic in Israel has already started, spurred by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, he said the decisions made by the government to limit entry of non-Israelis last month, bought the country valuable time in the battle against the new strain.
"That time is running out," Bennett said. "Omicron is already here."