Such an approach would be similar to the policy pursued by the Swedish authorities in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions were imposed only to protect the most vulnerable, allowing the rest of the country to continue a normal life.
As The Times of Israel adds, this method of managing the epidemic has been widely criticized, and the Swedish authorities have changed their policy over time. However, the prevalence of the Omikron variant, which is more contagious but the infection it causes is milder, prompted the Israeli authorities to consider such a scenario – which was first reported by Channel 12, without giving the source of the reports.
Proponents of this solution argue that by allowing the largest number of people to transmit the infection, they will naturally produce antibodies, and that a large percentage of Israel’s population will be protected by vaccines, writes The Times of Israel. Once the immunity of the population is achieved, the virus will not be completely eradicated, but the number of infections, severe Covid-19 cases and deaths will be significantly reduced.
“I don’t rule out such a plan, but it’s too early to support it,” epidemiologist Michael Edelstein said in the Times of Israel online portal. The scientist had previously supported the “Swedish model”, but withdrew from it, considering that the number of victims of the epidemic in this country was higher than expected.
Edelstein argues that current conditions may favor such a solution, because the increasingly faster Omikron variant causes milder infections.
PAP / Marcin R.
