Hope for other countries? In Israel, the vaccinations are showing their first successes

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This Netanya woman is one of more than four million people in Israel who have been vaccinated against Covid-19

Photo: RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS

Israel has become a kind of test laboratory for the rest of the world: in no other country in the world have so many people been vaccinated against Covid-19 in terms of population.

The first positive effects are now becoming apparent: the number of infections in the risk groups is apparently falling and the vaccine could possibly be even more effective than hoped.

Israel started vaccinating against the coronavirus early on.

The vaccine is used by Biontech / Pfizer.

More than 40 percent of the population have already received their first dose of vaccination - the proportion is higher than in any other country in the world.

For comparison: In Germany, two percent of the population has been vaccinated so far.

Only 0.01 percent of those vaccinated became infected

The two largest health services in Israel, Clalit and Maccabi, had examined how the number of Covid-19 cases has developed since vaccinations began.

According to the “Ärzteblatt”, three quarters of the people in Israel have health insurance through them.

According to this, the number of diseases in vaccinated over-60s fell by up to 60 percent compared to all insured persons in the age group.

The effect was already evident almost two weeks after the vaccinated person received the first dose.

At the beginning of the week, the Israeli Ministry of Health published figures according to which Biontech's vaccine could be even more effective than hoped.

According to this, only 63 of 428,000 people who had already received two doses had been infected with the corona virus.

That corresponds to 0.014 percent.

Accordingly, none of the infected became seriously ill, and no one had to go to hospital.

The numbers confirm the results of the large-scale phase III study required for the approval of the Biontech vaccine.

They found the vaccine to be 95 percent effective.

According to the first data from Israel, it could be even more effective, with an effectiveness of 99 percent.

In addition, the data indicate that the vaccines not only protect against Covid-19, but also against infections with the coronavirus.

These are still preliminary results

"These are very encouraging dates," said Anat Ekka Zohar, Vice President of Maccabi of the New York Times.

The few people who were infected despite being vaccinated should now be closely monitored.

Researchers want to find out whether those affected will continue to have only mild symptoms.

That would suggest that the vaccine could not prevent infection in them, but at least prevent severe disease.

However, experts emphasize that the results are only preliminary.

The analysis by the Maccabi health service is based on data from almost 51,000 people who had their first vaccination in December.

That's a large number, but more than four million people have now been vaccinated.

Weekly analyzes should now show whether the trend will continue.

In addition, it is not yet clear whether the vaccine will become less effective over time.

It is also conceivable that people who have already been vaccinated in Israel would behave particularly carefully in order to avoid infections.

In addition, strict corona restrictions still apply in Israel.

This could also contribute to the low infection rate.

People over the age of 60, health care workers and others at increased risk of infection were the first to be vaccinated in Israel.

Next, people over the age of 40 can get immunized and students between the ages of 16 and 18 so they can go back to school.

The vaccine has not yet been tested on younger children and adolescents.

It should therefore not be used with them for the time being.

However, the vaccinations are not a substitute for corona tests, quarantine, masks and contact restrictions, Maccabi emphasizes in the publication.

Because despite vaccinations and lockdown, the number of infections in the country is still high.

According to official information, the virus variant known from Great Britain was responsible for a large part of the new infections.

From what researchers know, it is significantly more contagious than previous virus lines.

To prevent more virus mutations from being introduced, Israel has largely stopped international air traffic.

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