Israel has administered a 4th vaccine dose to more than 500,000 people, AP quotes the Health Ministry as saying.

Authorities hope the additional boosters will blunt a wave of infections driven by the omicron variant. Health Ministry figures show Israel currently has some 260,000 active cases. But only 289 patients are listed as seriously ill, far fewer than during previous waves.

Israel's trailblazing vaccine campaign has reached another milestone,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. “Thank you to the half a million Israelis who got the fourth dose of the Covid vaccine and in so doing, help to keep us all safer.