The Latest: Bennett: Boosters to help Israel avoid lockdown

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says the government’s COVID-19 booster vaccination drive will help allow the country to avoid a full lockdown during the coming Jewish holiday season.

Religious and secular Israelis alike mark Jewish new year Rosh Hashana on Monday night. Jews will also mark the fast day of Yom Kippur and the weeklong Sukkot festival over the next few weeks.

The holiday season is marked by traditional family gatherings as well as packed services in synagogues. The government has urged families to avoid large gatherings. And synagogue prayers will be limited to small groups of vaccinated people.

Bennett told his Cabinet on Sunday that unvaccinated children shouldn’t be brought to synagogues.

Last year the holiday season led to a spike in coronavirus infections that resulted in a full lockdown.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— Germany urges vaccine shots; warns of fall COVID-19 surge

— Florida deals with deadliest phase yet of the pandemic

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronvirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BERLIN — The German disease control agency says that more than 4 million people have contracted the coronavirus in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The Robert Koch Institute reported 4,005,641 cases on Sunday. The actual number of cases is likely much higher as many infections go unnoticed. The institute said 92,346 people have died of COVID-19 in Germany.

Top health officials have urged more citizens to get vaccinated.

More than 61% of the German population, or 50.9 million people, are fully vaccinated, but that’s less than in other European countries. The daily vaccination rate has been dropping for weeks.

Germany’s disease control agency on Saturday reported 10,835 new COVID-19 cases. That’s up from 10,303 a week ago.

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OLYMPIA, Washington — Days after suing to block what is believed to be among the nation’s strictest COVID-19 employee vaccine mandates, Washington’s largest state labor union has announced a tentative agreement for Gov. Jay Inslee’s order for state workers.

The Northwest News Network reports the Washington Federation of State Employees has negotiated terms for Inslee’s mandate that all 46,000 of its union members be fully vaccinated by October 18 or lose their jobs.

The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified, was announced Saturday and defines the exceptions and religious and medical exemptions process for employees who can’t or won’t get their shots.

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FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has announced that he’s calling the state’s Republican-led legislature into a special session to shape pandemic policies as the state struggles with a record surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The return of lawmakers to the state Capitol starts Tuesday and marks a dramatic power shift in coronavirus-related policymaking in the Bluegrass State following a landmark court ruling.

Since the pandemic hit Kentucky, the governor mostly acted unilaterally in setting statewide virus policies, but the state Supreme Court shifted those decisions to the legislature.

“Now, that burden will fall in large part on the General Assembly,” Beshear said Saturday. “It will have to carry much of that weight to confront unpopular choices and to make decisions that balance many things, including the lives and the possible deaths of our citizens.”