Israel has seen cases climb but the seriously sick have risen less than during the last coronavirus wave
An Israeli woman receives a third shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Tel Aviv, Israel. Picture: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN
The nation of 9-million became the test case for reopening society and the economy in April when much of Europe and the US were still in some form of lockdown. Yet Israel now shows how the calculus is changing in places where progress has been fastest. It is no longer just about whether people get coronavirus, but also how badly they get it and ensuring that vaccines are still working as the infectious Delta variant threatens to undermine immunity.
Since April, Israel has fallen from first to 33rd in Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker of populations considered fully vaccinated. The programme plateaued amid hesitancy from some in the Orthodox Jewish and Arab communities. About 61% of Israelis have been given two doses, lower than in European laggards such as France and Spain earlier in 2021.
That said, unvaccinated people account for more than 10 times as many serious cases as those who have received two doses, showing that even with immunity waning, shots are providing protection. “Waning immunity is a real challenge that every country needs to prepare a contingency plan to tackle,” said Balicer, who is also chief innovation officer for Israeli health maintenance organisation Clalit. The data from Israel in the coming weeks will allow the world to assess the efficacy of the booster shot programme, he said.
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