but the israeli government sees this as something as a race against time to try to get as many of the fourth doses out as they can before the omicron wave peaks. that wave is a little bit behind the u.s. and the uk. other countries and israel's government says that is because of the very strict travel restrictions they put in place in november when omicron first emerged. all foreigners are banned from entering israel right now. the u.s., canada, turkey, other major countries are also on israel's travel red list which means travel is restricted. now, those restrictions have absolutely hammered the israeli tourism industry, especially over christmas when tourists and pilgrims like to come here to visit the holy sites. the israeli government says they have served their purpose in slowing down omicron and buying time for this fourth dose rollout to get underway. >> raph sanchez.