According to a report by the Corona Information and Knowledge Center, the main risk of reversing the declining trend in morbidity lies in the introduction of a new variant from abroad, which will overcome the vaccine. • In order to detect variant penetration, the Ministry of Defense
In the coming months, the main risk to reducing the effectiveness of the vaccine in Israel is the entry into the country of a variant, which will undergo a change large enough to "significantly" evade the protective effect of the vaccine, according to an AMN report published today (Sunday). Decreased morbidity and increasing efficacy of vaccines.
Ben Gurion Airport: A quick corona test within 15 minutes // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
According to the report, the existence of such a variant that significantly challenges the vaccine has not been proven to date, but there is a wide range of variants that have not yet been identified or researched, given the duration and complexity of viral strains and proven efficacy.
Thus, it may be discovered that a variant that has invaded the country from abroad is problematic, only at a stage when it will be too late to stop its spread in the population.
Try and reduce the variety of variants imported to Israel
In recent months, strains suspected of bypassing immunity in recovering animals (South African and Brazilian, for example) have been investigated, and a number of evidences have suggested that they cause re-infection at significant rates.
This development may (not necessarily) eventually lead to the development of a variant that more significantly threatens vaccine achievements, as these strains continue to develop and accumulate mutations.
The Israel Defense Forces recommends trying to reduce the range of variants imported to Israel from abroad and their scope, including problematic varieties, which are already in the country (such as the South African variant), but not yet to a significant extent, and prevent their widespread spread in Israel.
The report states that in order to reduce the risks, it is important to implement the recommendations, among them, all recovering and vaccinated must be tested before and after landing in the country, perform genomic sequencing for positive tests to identify mutations, ensure isolation of all landers, Exemption from insulation, will reduce contacts after landing until the test result is received in the country.