TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – When it comes to fighting the coronavirus, Israel is discovering the limits of vaccinations.
Famous for its high-tech skills and innovative spirit, it is home to the world’s fastest vaccination campaign, fueled by national pride and a deep desire to ‘start living’ again. as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it.
But experts believe the reopening of the country will take months, complicated by coronavirus mutations that have spread from Britain and South Africa, and the refusal among some sectors to comply with security rules and fluctuations in the rate of vaccinations of people among 60.
Although the government is expected to begin facilitating a third nationwide exclusion in the coming days, there are likely to be further, partial closures as the threat subsides and flows.
“It’s going to be a balance,” said Eyal Leshem, director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at Sheba Medical Center.
In an impressive performance, more than a third of Israel’s 9.3 million people received at least one shot in just a few weeks, and more than 1.9 million received both doses, possibly putting the country on the right track. to vaccinate almost its entire adult population by the end of March.
In addition to the praise for his speed, Israel has received worldwide criticism for the exclusion of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the blocked Gaza Strip. The situation has drawn attention to the global difference in access to vaccines between rich and poor countries.
Rights groups say Israel has an obligation to vaccinate Palestinians as an occupying power. Israel denies that they have such a responsibility, saying that it is its own citizens. Nevertheless, Israel delivered 5,000 doses for the first time this week of the Moderna vaccine to the Palestinian Authority to vaccinate medical workers.
In Israel, researchers are beginning to see the effects of the vaccinations for the first time, giving other countries an early look at what lies ahead.
Netanyahu said on Thursday that among people over the age of 60, the first group vaccinated had dropped serious cases of hospitalizations by 26% and confirmed that infections had dropped by 45% over the past 16 days.
“It’s a direct result of the vaccinations,” he said. “The vaccines work.”
But other important indicators, including deaths and new infections, remain high, in part due to the rapidly spreading mutations and the month-long delay time before the vaccine shows its full benefits.
Israel reported about 7,000 new infections per day, one of the highest percentages in the developed world. Nearly 5,000 people died, more than a quarter of them in January alone.
Israel has certain advantages that indicate that the success of vaccinations cannot be easily duplicated elsewhere. It is small, with 9.3 million people. It has a centralized and digitalized system of healthcare provided by only four HMOs. And the leader, Netanyahu, made the vaccination the centerpiece of his March re-election bid, who personally negotiates with the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna.
Yet experts around the world are eagerly watching.
“Israel’s aggressive vaccination program shows that it is indeed possible for a country to get vaccinations into people’s arms quickly and efficiently,” said Jonathan Crane, a bioethicist at Emory University in Atlanta. In an email, he praised the centralized effort, compared to the ‘piece-by-piece’ way vaccines are delivered in countries like the US by different jurisdictions.
Even with these early signs of success, it is becoming increasingly clear that there will be no pandemic, a festive moment when people are cleared to stream back to work, hold large family gatherings or the social lives they once knew, to resume.
The reopening will depend on many factors, including efforts to stem the spread of the highly contagious variants and whether the public is taking the right precautions. Many Israelis were horrified this week by scenes of major ultra-Orthodox funerals for two reverent rabbis, with most mourners maskless.
Some sections of the population, including the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors and younger adults, have apparently shown reluctance to be vaccinated, which may also hinder the attempt to achieve ‘herd immunity’ and stop the virus.
“The whole of Europe is waiting for the vaccinations, and here people do not want to be vaccinated?” Sara Baruch said after receiving her second dose on Wednesday in Tel Aviv. “It’s weird.”
She said it was a ‘big mistake’ if the trend continued: ‘We will not be able to go on holiday and to return to the normal life we had before.’
The vaccination campaign has become a hallmark of pop culture and a point of national pride. Israelis proudly post photos on social media showing how they are vaccinated, and one HMO then serves cappuccinos so people can be monitored for side effects before they leave.
Experts recommend that the country be gradually reopened, although political leaders will make the final decision. According to experts, closures and reopening will be a cost-benefit analysis that will change depending on the course of the outbreak and the state of the economy.
Dr. Nadav Davidovitch, a member of a government advisory panel, said young children with vaccinated high school students over the age of 16 should be allowed to return to school in the first phase, and that only vaccinated teachers should the class must be. Street shops and restaurants can only be opened for takeaway, followed in later stages by shopping malls and cultural events opened only to people who have been vaccinated.
He said the steps should be staggered every two weeks, with a constant eye on infection rates, testing and more vaccinations. Public gatherings inside and outside should be restricted for a while longer, he said. Social distance and masks will be needed in the foreseeable future.
“It will be very gradual in the coming months,” said Davidovitch, director of the School of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University of Israel. “Vaccinations are very important, but they are not going to solve all the problems.”
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Associated Press authors Josef Federman, Isaac Scharf and Ilan Ben Zion contributed.
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