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For the first time, an Israeli man who previously recovered from the coronavirus was discovered on Sunday to be re-infected with the so-called South African strain, Hebrew media reported.
The diagnosis came amid continued uncertainty about the effectiveness of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine that Israel is using for its mass inoculation program against new strains of the virus.
Ziv Yaffe, 57, from the central region of the country, recently returned from Turkey. Speaking to Channel 12 news, he said that while during his first infection in August he had “all the symptoms,” the second time he felt fine.
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Yaffe returned to Israel on January 16. By January 23, she had a little runny nose and decided to get tested for the virus as she was participating in a follow-up investigation at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. The test showed that he was reinfected and further tests revealed that he had contracted the South African mutation.
Shai Efrati, head of research and development for the medical center, told the station that Yaffe’s case was unique because doctors had a complete medical history of his attacks with the virus.
“It is the first time that we have a complete registry, of infection, recovery, reinfection and that the antibodies that he had protected him from the mutation,” said Efrati.
“What we learn is that when there are antibodies, they protect against disease,” he said.
Video screenshot of Ziv Yaffe, left, who was reinfected with the coronavirus, and Shai Efrati from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. (Channel 12 News)
Efrati cautioned that it was too early to conclude that anyone who has had the disease is also protected against other mutations, and said more similar cases would be needed before such conclusions could be drawn.
But, he added, Yaffe’s case is “very encouraging.”
Yaffe said that in addition to not feeling unwell, relatives and others had been in close contact with him during the period of his second infection, but none contracted the virus from him.
His case is the second time that the South African variant has arrived in Israel from Turkey, according to the Ynet website.
Health officials are concerned that the South African mutation, similar to British and Californian strains that are considered more infectious, could lead to another wave of the virus among those who have recovered from a previous infection and are not being vaccinated as part of the immunization campaign. .
All previous patients with the South African mutation, first discovered in South Africa in December, were people who returned to the country from South Africa, Ethiopia or Dubai, according to the report.
Sharon Alroy-Preis, acting director of the ministry’s public health division, speaks virtually before the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on January 6, 2021 (screenshot: YouTube).
On Saturday, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at the Ministry of Health, told Kan’s public broadcaster that there were preliminary indications that coronavirus vaccines might be less effective in protecting against South African variant.
“We do not yet have evidence that any of the variants is completely resistant to the vaccine, but there is some preliminary evidence that says perhaps the effectiveness of the vaccine is somewhat lower against the South African variant,” Alroy-Preis said.
She said tests were still in progress to clarify the matter.
Pfizer and BioNTech, whose vaccine is being used in Israel’s world’s leading vaccine campaign, said Thursday that early evidence suggests its immunization would protect against variants from South Africa and Britain.
Their study found that the antibodies were able to neutralize all the sets of mutations tested. He noted that the effect was “slightly less” against three mutations in the variant found in South Africa, including E484K. But the companies said it was “unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine.”
Last week, the Health Ministry confirmed that three more cases of the South African coronavirus variant have been found in Israel, bringing the total number of infections of the strain to 30. Three of the cases were discovered in a random sampling, leading to undetected community concerns. smeared.
Meanwhile, the British variant is spreading wildly in Israel, with health officials blaming the UK mutation for the continued high burden of coronavirus cases after weeks of lockdown. Daily infections remain in the thousands, despite Israel’s strict restrictions and vaccination campaign.
A man receives an injection of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Jerusalem, on January 28, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
More than 3 million Israelis, almost a third of their population, have received the first dose of the vaccine and 1.7 million have received both injections. Vaccines are administered according to a plan that began with medical workers, those over 60 and risk groups, and the age limit is steadily lowered as more citizens complete the two-shot vaccination cycle .
In an effort to keep variants of the virus out of the country, Israel has closed its main international airport, including to its own citizens. The order will expire on Sunday, but will likely be extended.
The government is expected to extend the nationwide lockdown for another week on Sunday to reduce infection rates.
Since the start of the virus outbreak early last year, 641,373 people in Israel have been diagnosed with the virus, according to figures from the Health Ministry released on Sunday. The death toll stood at 4,768.
The agencies contributed to this report.
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