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Two million elderly are vaccinated. A week after the first injection, you are already 50 to 60 percent protected from Covid disease, as the first figures from Israel show.
How good is vaccination protection? Israel has already vaccinated two million residents against the coronavirus. This includes about 70 percent of all those over the age of 60 in the country. According to the Israeli authorities, the infection rate one week after vaccination among these people who have been vaccinated with one dose to date is between 50 and 60 percent lower than in an unvaccinated comparison group. “That is to be expected based on the corresponding study by vaccine manufacturer Pfizer Biontech,” says SRF scientific editor Thomas Häusler. Only after the second vaccination is protection expected to increase to more than 90 percent.
How many got sick despite being vaccinated? Out of 1,000 seriously ill Covid patients in Israeli hospitals, 180 were among them who had already been vaccinated for the first time. But: “You probably underestimate the effectiveness of the vaccine with this number alone,” says Häusler. It takes some time until a person with a serious illness is admitted to the hospital; therefore, among the 180 seriously ill vaccinated, there are also some who became infected before or shortly after the first vaccination appointment. Basically, the virus is very widespread in Israel with around 9,000 new infections per day.
Does vaccination already affect the number of cases? The new contagion curve has recently stabilized among older Israelis. Experts also suspect that this could be due to vaccines. The infection rate remains high among younger Israelis. However: “At the same time, there is a blockage, so this could also be at least partially responsible for the decrease in infections,” says Häusler. According to computer simulations conducted by Israeli researchers, the general situation of the crown in the country should relax significantly from March. Because already at the beginning of February everyone over 60 should have received their second vaccination.
Is it a good idea to vaccinate only once? In the UK the healthcare system is on edge and the situation is very difficult. That is why London has ordered that as many people as possible be vaccinated and that they wait up to twelve weeks before the second vaccination instead of the three or four planned. “But for Switzerland, Israel’s figures do not change its strategy of not delaying the second vaccination,” says Häusler. It’s better for Switzerland to protect as many people at risk as possible as quickly as possible than to vaccinate as many as possible as quickly as possible, but many of them could still be infected, Häusler says, according to the Federal Vaccination Commission.
