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According to Johns Hopkins University, the country that once planned to vaccinate its entire population first had the highest number of cases per capita in the week ending Sept. 4. Meanwhile, Israel’s record level of vaccination in the champions table has plummeted.
The country of 9 million became an example of social and economic recovery in April, while most of Europe and the United States continued to be quarantined in one form or another.
But now Israel is showing how quickly things can change where progress is fastest. What matters is not only whether people are infected with the coronavirus, but also the severity of the disease. It is essential to ensure that vaccines continue to work, as the highly contagious strain of delta threatens to break even strong immunity.
Israel recently began vaccinating children and introduced a Pfizer-BioNTech booster program, as studies have shown that the effectiveness of the vaccine decreases over time. About 100,000 Israelis are vaccinated every day, the vast majority with the third vaccine.
“If you can do without quarantine and avoid a lot of hospitalizations and deaths, that’s what life will be like with Covid,” said Eylas Leshem, professor of infectious diseases at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Ha-Shomere.
According to the Bloomberg Vaccine Surveillance Program, Israel has fallen from first place to 33 since April. The program was stopped due to doubts from the Jewish and Arab Orthodox communities. About 61 percent. The Israelis received two doses, which is lower than in France and Spain, which lagged far behind at the beginning of the year.
With the spread of the delta strain in the summer, the number of COVID-19 cases in Israel increased again, and on September 2. a historical record of 11,316 new cases was reached. However, the number of seriously ill and hospitalized people grew less than during the last coronavirus wave, reaching 751 at the end of August (1183 in mid-January). Now this trend is also decreasing.
Infections increased due to the vulnerability of unvaccinated people, especially children. So-called breakthrough infections have also been observed among vaccinates and reduced efficacy of vaccines.
Unvaccinated people account for ten times more severe cases than those who received both doses, suggesting that even with reduced immunity, vaccines still provide protection.
The latest phase of the pandemic calls on public health officials and politicians to focus on ensuring that older people, who are at increased risk of developing the disease, continue to be protected as the number of COVID-19 cases increases. between children. This is especially important since millions of children returned to school last week and the Jewish New Year begins this week.
Epidemiologists say the number of cases among people over 30 is already declining, due to booster shots and restrictions in bars and restaurants that only allow fully vaccinated people. The largest number of new cases in recent weeks has been among children under the age of 12, says Ran Balicer, chairman of the government’s expert advisory group. A record level of testing was also recorded.
“Weakening immunity is a serious challenge that all countries will have to prepare for,” said Balicer, who is also head of innovation at the Israeli health organization Clalit.
According to him, the data received from Israel in the coming weeks will allow the world to assess the effectiveness of the reinforcement program.
According to the Israel Ministry of Health, on September 6. at least 2.6 million Israelis (approximately 28% of the population) had received a booster dose of the vaccine. Among people over 60, that number is at least 64 percent. It should be noted that the booster vaccine is available to all people over 12 years of age who have been vaccinated five months or more ago.
Going back to school can change things. The transmission dynamics may change: the disease would threaten all age groups because children bring COVID-19 home, says R. Baliceris.
The World Health Organization map of the overall European region places Israel in the top five. New data show that within seven days, the highest incidence of infections was recorded in Scotland, where 68% of the population is fully vaccinated. The number of cases increased after the lifting of restrictions and the opening of schools in mid-August after the summer holidays.
“If you look at what happened a year ago, we had virtually no protection at the time other than a strict quarantine,” Leshem said. “We now have an open education system, fully open commerce, and despite more than 50,000 cases a week, we are not seeing an increase in serious illnesses and hospitalizations.”
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