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- Israel’s COVID-19 infection rate has doubled in the past two weeks.
- The country is seeing a further increase in cases despite the early success of the Pfizer vaccine.
- The protection offered by vaccines may decrease over time, especially for older groups.
Israel, once the world leader in coronavirus containment, has one of the highest daily infection rates in the world.
Today, nearly one in 150 people in Israel is infected with the virus. On average, nearly 7,500 people are infected per day, double the rate of infection from two weeks ago.
The new wave has prompted Israeli leaders to scramble to bring back mask warrants and restrict gatherings as case rates approach the worst days of last winter.
Globally, scientists are studying infection rates among vaccinated Israelis to understand how the vaccine resists over time. The results were not encouraging, triggering a wave of panic around the world.
Israel’s immunity dropped to Delta
Nearly 80% of Israeli adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which constitutes 58% of the country’s relatively young population, according to NPR.
More than half of the population was fully immunized by March 25, and for a moment it looked like the country was on the way to gaining herd immunity.
But rising case rates in Israel may indicate that the protection offered by vaccines is waning over time. Health officials and scientists at Pfizer noted a failure in protection six to eight months after the second shot, which took place just around the arrival of the Delta variant in Israel this summer.
Half of the critically ill COVID patients currently hospitalized in Israel were fully immunized five months or more ago. Most of them are over 60 and have comorbidities, which puts them at a higher risk of developing serious illness.
Boosters could strengthen the protection of the elderly population
Along with renewed efforts to encourage the wearing of masks and restrict gatherings, Israel is fighting the virus by offering booster shots to the elderly.
Israel launched its recall campaign in early August. Adults aged 60 and over who completed their vaccination course at least five months ago are now eligible for a third Pfizer-BioNTech injection.
Israel’s decision to start offering boosters sparked a wave of rich countries doing the same. The US, UK, Germany and France are all ready or approved to start rolling out booster injections in September.
Vaccines are still effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalizations and death from COVID-19 in most groups, so some experts argue that it makes more sense to focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated.
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