For the first time, it was found that an Israeli man who had previously recovered from the coronavirus was infected with the so-called South African tribe again, reports Hebrew media.
The diagnosis comes amid continued uncertainty about the effectiveness of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine that Israel uses for its mass vaccination program against the new strains of the virus.
Ziv Yaffe, 57, from the central region of the country, recently returned from Turkey. In Channel 12 news, he said he had ‘all the symptoms’ during his first infection in August, but that he felt well the second time around.
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Yaffe returned to Israel on January 16. By January 23, he had a bit of a nose and decided to do a virus test as he participated in follow-up research at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. The test showed that he was infected again, and further tests showed that he had captured the South African mutation.
Shai Efrati, head of research and development at the medical center, told the station that Yaffe’s case is unique because doctors have a complete medical record of his attacks on the virus.
“This is the first time we have a complete record of infection, recovery, reinfection and that the antibodies he protected against the mutation,” Efrati said.
“What we learn is that when antibodies are present, they protect against disease,” he said.
Screenshot from video of Ziv Yaffe, left, who was re-infected with the coronavirus, and Shai Efrati of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. (Channel 12 news)
Efrati warned that it was too early to conclude that anyone who had the disease would be protected against other mutations as well, and said it would require more similar cases before such conclusions could be drawn.
But, he added, Yaffe’s case is ‘very encouraging’.
Yaffe said that family members and others, except that they did not feel bad, had close contact with him during the second infection, but that no one got the virus from him.
His case is the second time that the South African variant has been brought to Israel from Turkey, according to the Ynet website.
Health officials are concerned that the South African mutation, similar to the British and California strains which are considered more contagious, could lead to another wave of the virus among those who have recovered from previous infection and are not vaccinated as part of the immunization process not. .
All the previous patients with the South African mutation, who were first discovered in South Africa in December, were people who had returned to the country from South Africa, Ethiopia or Dubai.
Sharon Alroy-Preis, Acting Head of the Department of Public Health, will speak virtually to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on 6 January 2021. (Screenshot: YouTube)
Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at the Ministry of Health, told Kan’s public broadcaster on Saturday that there were preliminary indications that the coronavirus vaccines might be less effective in protecting the South African variant.
“We do not yet have evidence that any of the variants are completely resistant to the vaccine, but there is preliminary evidence that the efficacy of the vaccine may be a little less than the South African variant,” Alroy-Preis said.
She said tests are still underway to explain the case.
Pfizer and BioNTech, whose vaccine is used in Israel’s world-leading vaccine management, said on Thursday that early tests indicated that their immunization would be protective against the variants of South Africa and Britain.
Their study found that the antibodies were able to neutralize all the sets of mutations tested. It noted that the effect was ‘slightly lower’ compared to three mutations in the variant found in South Africa, including E484K. But the companies said it was unlikely to lead to a significant decline in vaccine efficacy.
The Ministry of Health confirmed last week that three more cases of the South African coronavirus variant have been found in Israel, bringing the total number of infections of the strain to 30. distribution.
Meanwhile, the British variant is spreading wildly in Israel, with health officials blaming the persistently high coronavirus effects after weeks of exclusion on the British mutation. The daily infections remain thousands, despite Israel’s strict restrictions and vaccination campaign.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection at a vaccination center in Jerusalem on January 28, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
More than 3 million Israelis – nearly one-third of the population – received the first dose of the vaccine, and 1.7 million received both shots. The shots are fired according to a plan that began with medical workers over the age of 60 and a risk group, with the age limit gradually decreasing as more citizens complete the two-shot vaccination cycle.
In an effort to keep the virus variants out of the country, Israel has closed its main international airport, also for its own citizens. The order will expire on Sunday, but will likely be extended.
The government is expected to extend the nationwide exclusion by another week on Sunday to lower infection rates.
Since the onset of the virus outbreak early last year, 641,373 people in Israel have been diagnosed with the virus, according to figures from the Ministry of Health released on Sunday. The death toll stood at 4,768.
Agencies contributed to this report.
