More than 55% of Israelis over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the 12 weeks since the first raid on a meandering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on national television. This is the world’s best vaccination rate and about four times the US rate.
To find out how the Jewish state became such an overachiever, I interviewed its national Covid-19 coordinator, Nachman Ash. Dr. Ash, 60, began his medical career in 1987 as a combat physician in the Israeli military. Before retiring from the service, he rose to the rank of brigadier general and the position of IDF surgeon general. He sits in his spartan office in Lod, south of Ben Gurion International Airport, and tells me he is waging a ’24/7 war’. His current job is ‘the most intensive’ he has ever had, ‘much harder’ than being the chief medical officer of the Israeli army, not even in wartime.
Dr. Ash is Israel’s second Covid tsar. He took up the post on November 12, after his less diplomatic predecessor resigned amid clashes with Mr. Netanyahu and quarrels with (often rebellious) ultra-Orthodox Jews, who complained about lockouts and other social restrictions.
Like all good officials, he is proud of his victories, but he quickly gives the honor to others. He attributes Israel’s vaccination successes to its political leaders, who have shown foresight by closing early deals to save the Covid vaccine. Officials had ‘direct talks’ with Pfizer,
in which they presented the company with a scientific quid pro quo. Israel got the shots early and in the quantities it needed, and in return Pfizer gained access to the results of the vaccinations, tabled by a country with a first-class medical system and a reputation for statistical and scientific integrity. Dr. Ash calls it a “win-win deal” and believes Pfizer would say the same.
The results are similar to those of earlier, much smaller clinical trials. “We see about 95% effectiveness in preventing disease,” says Dr. Ash. “In the actual data analysis, therefore, the results are just as good as the research that Pfizer did.”
Widespread vaccination has limited infection rates and improved morale in a country that has endured three severe blockades in the past year. The last one, which Israelites hated a lot, stretched from January 8 to February 7, 2021. Citizens were confined to less than 1,000 feet from their homes. Schools are closed.
Dr. Ash does not apologize for the hardship. “I believe it was necessary three times to use the closures, it was absolutely essential.” He strongly agrees with the Great Barrington Declaration, in which a group of epidemiologists advocates ‘focused protection’ of the defenseless and an end to barriers.
“No no no. I think this is a very dangerous way to deal with the pandemic,” says Dr Ash. “They believe in stopping the pandemic by what I would call ‘natural herd immunity’, which you achieve by But it is wrong, because we will lose a lot of lives. ”An unwavering commitment to protecting the lives of its citizens has been a feature of Israel’s civil society since its inception. Israel’s civil defense against the rockets of Hezbollah can be seen in its cautious incremental approach to resuming normal life in the midst of the pandemic. The country is betting a lot on vaccinations. ‘ is’, he says, ‘we will be close to the herd immunity.’
Dr. Ash speaks to me with a quiet satisfaction through Israel’s vaccination methods and numbers. “We vaccinated those who were at risk first, but not in a too narrow slots.” Israel began in December by offering vaccines to everyone over the age of 60 – the age limit in most U.S. states is 65 – as well as to anyone with comorbidities. When the number of people over the age of 60 was vaccinated, ‘we opened it up to those aged 50 and over’.
Israel then extended the vaccine to those between 16 and 18. “We wanted them to be vaccinated before returning to school, once the exclusion was ended,” says Dr Ash. Children under the age of 16 are excluded because the US Food and Drug Administration, which meets Israel’s requirements, has not approved the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine for that age group.
After the teens, vaccination was opened to almost all people. “We have not yet vaccinated anyone who had Covid and recovered from it,” notes dr. Ash on – although they will soon have one chance to boost their natural immunity. According to dr. Ash’s spokesman said 3.1 million Israelis received both shots from Friday and 5.1 million received the first shot. For Israelis 50 and older, the full vaccination rate is 86%. If you exclude the non-eligible – children and the 738,000 people with immunity to previous infections – from the denominator, you have a higher vaccination rate than 80% for all ages 16 and older.
Vaccinations are administered by Kupat Holim – Hebrew for “sickness funds” – the four insurance organizations that are the mainstay of Israeli health care. By law, every citizen is required to report to one of the four, and Dr. Ash was director of the Health Division at Maccabi Healthcare Services, the second largest, before becoming Covid tsar. There are even clinics in the smallest villages. “Every Kupat Holim,” says Dr. Ash, “vaccinate his people.” This is an aspect of vaccination that in the US would be impossible to repeat, with its awkward medical providers and insurers.
What the two countries have in common is an observable pattern of skeptics of Covid vaccine. In Israel, three groups stand out for their susceptibility to what Dr Ash calls ‘fake news’ about the vaccine: Arabs, immigrants from Russia and young women. At the request of the Israeli government, Facebook took down ‘deliberately fraudulent’ Hebrew content, claiming that the vaccine was a poison designed to wipe out the population and implant slides in bodies. “Some young women,” he adds, “are afraid they may lose their fertility. It is unfounded. ”
But the government may have made a turn with another group – the ultra-Orthodox – who also had resistance to the government. “These groups are influenced by their rabbis,” said Dr. Ash, “and we have had good discussions with the rabbis about the vaccinations. They encourage people to be vaccinated, so they are doing pretty well now.” is to convince leaders of close-knit communities that vaccination makes sense. ‘There is no other way, either with the ultra-Orthodox groups or the Arabs,’ but with the latter group the gulf is not religious: ‘We work with mayors and local leaders. They can convey the message to my people much better than I can. ”
One way to overcome vaccine resistance is to encourage a Green Pass. Israelis can download an app that verifies that they have been vaccinated or that they have recovered from Covid. It allows passengers to enter gyms, hotels, concert halls and other spaces that are beyond the limit for those who are not immune.
What about the Palestinians? Israel’s critics argue that it has not done enough for them. Dr. Ash responds that the Palestinian Authority has its own vaccine contracts and is part of the World Health Organization’s Covax initiative for low- and middle-income countries, but he also points to a pattern of contact between his team and Palestinian administrators. areas.
He adds that Israelis and Palestinians “share a very small area with many interconnections.” Many Arab Israelis go back and forth to the West Bank, and Palestinians come to Israel to work. ‘The disease therefore definitely binds us, and they will be vaccinated. Not just for their sake, but also for ours. ”
Mr. Varadarajan, a contributor to the journal, is a Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute and of New York University’s Classical Liberal Institute.
Wonderland: Today we are on our way to normal, not because of politicians and medical enforcers. Our thanks are from medical staff who treated patients and immediately discovered treatments. And private vaccine developers. Images: Reuters / AFP via Getty Composite: Mark Kelly
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