Israel is in the “final stages” of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior health official said Friday after data showed the country was seeing clear results from its massive vaccination.
‘We are in the final stages of the coronavirus. Israel, with the scale of the vaccination, is showing the world that there is an exit strategy, ‘Ronni Gamzu, who was Israel’s COVID tsar and has since returned as director of the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, told Channel 12 News said. .
His assessment appears to have been shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted earlier this week and said at a closed door meeting that “It’s over.”
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‘You all understand that everything we talk about the corona is only compensation for the past. It’s over, ”Netanyahu told members of a protest group representing independent business owners in leaked comments recorded on Wednesday and broadcast by Channel 12 on Friday.
Confidence is added that Israel has vaccinated almost a quarter of the eligible population, and it is clear that the shots have an impact.
Education worker receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Jerusalem on 13 January 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
On Thursday, 56,716 Israelis received their first vaccination, a total of 1,992,806, with another 64,366 receiving their second shot, and that is 169,707 – by far the highest vaccination rate in the world, according to the website Our World In Data.
Netanyahu last week promised that Israel would further boost its vaccine management, aiming to administer 170,000 shots a day, while touching on a new group of hundreds of thousands of doses of Pfizer’s vaccine at Ben Gurion Airport.
By the end of March, Israel had vaccinated 5.2 million citizens against the coronavirus, according to a plan drawn up by the Ministry of Health.
Channel 12 revealed on Friday that the percentage of seriously ill people above the 60s of the total confirmed cases has dropped drastically in recent days from 2.5% to 1.5%.
“We got used to the fact that 2.5% of the seriously ill were over sixty, which suddenly decreased,” Gamzu said.
At least 75% of the population over 60 have received at least one shot, indicating that the vaccine has already had an effect, although its impact is only expected after the second dose.
‘This 1.5% is unprecedented, I have not seen it all the time. The vaccine has a clear effect, ‘he said. “It shows the beginning of the end.”
Gamzu praised the government and Netanyahu for securing the vaccinations, but said the Israeli public deserves the real credit.
“The greatest success belongs to the people of Israel, the public who are going to vaccinate with great confidence and say that I believe in the vaccination,” Gamzu said. “It’s not something you see anywhere in the world, and it has to be said.”
The optimism comes when Israel said on Friday that all Israelis over the age of 45 would be eligible to receive the first COVID-19 shot through their health providers from Sunday, as Israel’s vaccination system continues to expand.
According to the Our World In Data website, January 15, 2021, a graph with the leading countries in COVID-19 vaccinations is administered per capita. (Screenshot)
Along with the start of the vaccination campaign, there has been an increase in cases of coronavirus, with more than 9,000 daily new infections diagnosed in recent days.
There was also a sharp increase in deaths and the number of patients in serious condition due to COVID-19 complications.
Updated figures released by the Ministry of Health on Friday morning said 1919 new cases had been confirmed the previous day – the fourth consecutive with more than 9,000 cases. However, the percentage of positive tests, 7.7 percent, was about half the record achieved in September. The number of daily tests has grown dramatically and stands at 123 111 on Thursday.
The initial figures for Friday showed a similar positivity rate of 7.2% – 1,807 cases out of 25,230 tests done by 10:00
Gamzu, however, said that the number of overall new cases as well as those who were seriously ill were declining, and that the trend was reversing.
The number of cases since the start of the pandemic, which exceeded half a million on Monday, reached 533,026, including 79,084 active cases – a new record of all time. Of these, 1,141 people were in a serious condition, including 351 who were considered critical and 291 on ventilators.
The death toll has risen to 3,892 – an increase of 49 since Thursday morning.
Police’s temporary roadblock on Route 1 outside Jerusalem on January 15, 2021 during a third nationwide full shutdown, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Due to the high numbers of illnesses and deaths, the government last week tightened the closure measures that came into effect a week earlier and ordered the closure of schools and businesses.
Netanyahu has urged Israelis to abide by the virus restrictions imposed by the government, saying no decision has yet been taken on extending the third nationwide exclusion, which according to health officials will last after the original end date of January 21.
Police have prepared to significantly extend the enforcement of the closure over the weekend, and set up checkpoints that will operate 24 hours a day.
Police said dozens of checkpoints were set up along main roads, as well as in cities and towns. The increased enforcement measures began Friday at 6 p.m.