Jerusalem, Mar 25 (IANS): The Israeli Ministry of Health has announced a Covid-19 vaccination campaign for people aged 60 years and above, citing a recent surge of morbidity nationwide fueled by the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.

The operation, to start on Sunday, will be carried out by the Ministry, Health Maintenance Organisation(HMO) clinics, and Israel's Defense Forces' home front command across the country, the Ministry said on Thursday in a statement.

HMOs will directly contact 212,000 people over the age of 60 years, who are eligible for a third Covid-19 vaccine dose but are yet to get one, and the Ministry will also encourage 450,000 eligible people aged 60 years and above to take the fourth-dose jab, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Ministry reported 13,603 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the national total to 3,818,065 as of Thursday.

Israel's Covid-19 reproduction number indicator, also known as the R number, has increased from 1.39 to 1.42.

When the R number is greater than one, the number of patients increases at an exponential rate and multiplies from time to time.