Israel puts faith in booster shot as cases rise

The arrival of the Delta variant has halted Israel’s push to open up. In one month it’s gone from less than 300 daily cases to 3372.

Muslims and Jews wait outside Israel's Magen David Adom medical service for a rapid Covid-19 test in Jerusalem. Picture: AFP

Israel has given a booster third coronavirus vaccination to one in three of its citizens over 60 but cases and hospital admissions have continued to rise.

Naftali Bennett, 49, the prime minister, said 420,000 people had received a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by yesterday afternoon. This includes some who are younger than 60 but immuno-compromised.

Of the 420,000, 11 in the over-60 category and three in the immuno-compromised group have since been diagnosed with Covid-19, with two admitted to hospital. Scientists say it is too soon to extrapolate broader estimates of how effective a third dose will be.

Thanks to an early deal with Pfizer in which the company was given access to some Israeli data for its monitoring, the country has led the way internationally in vaccinating its population. As of last night about 5.4 million people out of a population of 9.3 million, about 63 per cent, had received two doses, compared with about 59 per cent in the UK. Like Britain, Israel is not vaccinating younger children but it has begun vaccinating those aged between 10 and 19.

A paramedic in Jerusalem processes a Covid-19 test. Picture: AFP

There was initial reluctance to take up the vaccination in some members of the Haredi, or ultra-orthodox, community, but rates among adults soared after community leaders and rabbis gave their blessing. Rates have lagged in the Arab-Israeli population.

The arrival of the Delta variant has put Israel’s attempts to open up into reverse. It recorded 3,372 new cases yesterday, up from less than 300 a little over a month ago. The number of people recorded as seriously ill rose to 360, with health officials reported to be saying a fourth lockdown would be necessary if that figure rose to 700.

The authorities restored some limits on indoor gatherings yesterday. Double vaccination or immunity via infection is required to attend sporting events, concerts, cinemas and theatres, restaurants and cafes, and gyms. Masks have to be worn even outside if more than 100 people are attending an event.

From next week visitors arriving from nearly all countries will have to go into isolation. That is a blow to a tourist industry that had tried to capitalise on Israel’s vaccination success by launching an aggressive advertising campaign marketing itself as an alternative destination to closed European countries.

Studies in Israel on the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccinations against the Delta variant have consistently shown worse readings than in other countries, for reasons that are under investigation. A study last month for the health ministry showed that while the vaccine gave strong resistance to severe illness and hospital admission, it was only 39 per cent effective against infection.

Scientists have speculated that the effect of vaccinations may be wearing off earlier than hoped, and say this is a strong argument for other countries to follow Israel’s lead in offering booster shots.

However, they also say Israel’s experience adds to the view that vaccinations will become a tool to help countries live with the disease rather than to defeat it.

“The coronavirus isn’t going to disappear any time soon,” Nitzan Horowitz the health minister, said. “We are laying down the infrastructure that will enable us to live with the coronavirus in the long term.”

The Times