Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital has reopened its Covid-19 unit, which had closed in the spring; around ten patients are currently being treated there. Everywhere in Israel, in recent weeks, the epidemic has started again, relaunched by the Delta variant: now, 90% of infections in the country are due to this new mutation. Hebrew state has recorded more than 2,000 positive cases per day – a record for four months. The hospitalization rate remains marginal but has doubled in one week with nearly 160 patients.
“In the same situation, six months ago, with a very contagious new variant and low vaccination rates because we were at the start of the campaign, we had 1,300 deaths”, nuance Nadav Davidovitch, member of the committee which advises the government on Covid-19. However, he warns against the rapid progression of the epidemic, whose reproduction rate is now around 1.4: “It’s not going to lead to the collapse of the system but it can end up weighing down. “
At the beginning of June, however, the specter of Covid-19 seemed to be receding for good in the country. Most of the restrictions had been lifted, masks were no longer mandatory indoors and outdoors, concert halls, theaters and nightclubs had resumed their normal activities. Israel vaccinated its approximately nine million inhabitants quickly and very early on; today, 90% of over 50s and between 85 and 89% of 20-49 year olds have already received their two doses. Several factors explain the success of this marathon campaign which started at the end of December: most Israelis joined it, the Hebrew state had succeeded in securing enough doses upstream and the authorities have put in place an effective system to administer them via the network of mutuals in the country.
Avoid severe forms and hospitalizations
Does the resumption of the epidemic then call this vaccination strategy into question? No, hammer epidemiologists. If according to data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, the vaccine is only 40% effective in preventing infection with the virus – results criticized due to the nature of the sample chosen (research has focused on outbreaks of infection, with more elderly people than young people) – on the other hand, it prevents severe forms of Covid-19. “When we look at hospitalizations, we are a quarter or even a fifth of the figures of a few months ago, with the same number of new cases. In terms of death rates, it’s incredible, there are hardly any deaths. Hospitalized patients also leave earlier on average ”, observes Eli Sprecher, head of the dermatology department at Ichilov Hospital.
You have 57.54% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
