Public Health Minister Firas Abiad announced on Friday that the ministry is not considering a lockdown to manage spiking COVID-19 case numbers in the coming period, since, according to the Ministry’s data, “80 percent of the infected individuals are unvaccinated.”

Here’s what we know:

     • During a press conference Friday, Abiad said that the high number of COVID-19 infections in recent days is due to the current colder weather conditions and schools’ reopening — given that the majority of infected individuals are aged between 10 and 19, he said — and finally because many areas across Lebanon still have a high rate of unvaccinated residents.

     • On Thursday, Lebanon registered 1,510 new COVID-19 cases, and nine deaths raising the death toll to 8,685, while in October the daily cases were consistently below 800. The registration for the vaccination program has reached 55.3 percent of the population over the age of 12, according to the Health Ministry; 37.2 percent have taken the first dose, and 32.4 percent have taken the two doses to date.

     • “No lockdown will be imposed so far, but we will take the proper measures to keep citizens safe during the holidays’ season,” Abiad said.

     • Abiad also said that in order to increase vaccine confidence, given that some people who are doubtful about the AstraZeneca vaccines, the Ministry will try to substitute the latter with Pfizer shots so that more people can feel more encouraged, as well as providing more vaccination centers.

     • The Ministry will also coordinate with the Education Ministry in order to push the school holiday to an earlier date, thus freeing up more time in the day for the students to get their vaccinations.