Promising data in Israel’s race to beat pandemic

More than half of eligible Israelis – about 3.5 million people – have now been vaccinated in whole or in part. Older and at-risk groups, the first to be included, are seeing a sharp drop in illness.

The first fully immunized group included a 53% reduction in new cases, a 39% decline in hospitals and a 31% reduction in serious illnesses from mid-January to February. 6, said Eran Segal, a data scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

At the same time, among people under the age of 60 who became eligible for pictures later, new cases fell by 20% but hospitals and serious illnesses rose by 15% and 29%, respectively.

Reuters interviewed top scientists in Israel and abroad, Israeli health officials, hospital chiefs and two of the country’s largest healthcare providers about what new data shows from the world’s most effective vaccine distribution.

The vaccination campaign has provided a database that provides an insight into the effectiveness of vaccines outside of controlled clinical trials, and the extent to which countries may herd herd immunity. solicited but not requested.

More information in two weeks, as teams study the effectiveness of vaccination in younger groups of Israelis, as well as targeted numbers such as people with diabetes, cancer and pregnant women, the among the patient base at least 10 times larger than those in clinical studies.

“We need to have enough people in that subgroup and enough time to make the right decisions, and we are getting to that point,” said Ran Balicer, the new chief executive. Clause HMO, which covers more than half the population of Israel.

Pfizer monitors Israel’s distribution weekly for insights that can be used around the world.

As a small country with universal healthcare, advanced data capabilities and the promise of rapid deployment, Israel provided a unique opportunity for Pfizer to study the real-world impact of the vaccine developed by BioNTech in Germany.

However, the company said it was “difficult to predict the exact time when herd protection may occur” due to many variables at play, including social pace measures and the number of new infections diagnosed. formed by each case, called the reproductive stage.

Even Israel, which is leading the global vaccination campaign, is expected to emerge rapidly from the pandemic due to emergencies.

The third national lock has been struggling to introduce transmission, due to the rapid UK outbreak of the virus. On a positive note, the Pfizer / BioNTech view seems to be effective against it.

“So far we have identified the same 90% to 95% effectiveness against British snoring,” said Hezi Levi, chief executive of the Ministry of Health.

“It’s still early though, because we are only now ready the first week after the second dose,” he said, adding: “It is too early to say anything about the South African variety. “

Israel began its vaccination program Dec. 19 – the day after Hanukkah – after paying a price for a supply of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

Four days later, the more contagious variant was found in the UK in four. Although the vaccine prevents illness in the elderly, the variant now makes up about 80% of new cases.

Finding themselves in a race between the vaccine and the new variant, Israel began offering sightings to those over 60 and gradually opened up the program to the rest of the population.

Every detail was followed digitally, down to which arm the patient was kicked and where it came from.

One week after receiving the second dose of Pfizer – the point at which full protection is expected to kick in – 254 out of 416,900 people were infected, according to Maccabi, Israel’s leading health care provider .

Comparing this with a non-vaccine group showed a vaccine efficacy of 91%, Maccabi said.

Within 22 days of full immunization, no infections were reported.

Israeli experts are confident that vaccines rather than lockout measures have reduced numbers, based on studying different cities, age groups and pre-vaccine locks.

The comparisons were “sure to tell us that this is the effect of the vaccine,” the Seiz Weizmann Institute said.

With 80% of seniors vaccinated in whole or in part, a fuller picture will begin to emerge as early as this week.

“And we expect a further decline in overall cases and in major morbidity cases,” said Balicer, of HMO Clalit.

VACCINES AND TRANSMISSION

There may be early signs that vaccines reduce virus transmission as well as disease

At Israel’s largest COVID-19 test center, run by MyHeritage, researchers have tracked a dramatic reduction in the amount of virus that humans carry, known as the cT value, among the most vaccinated age groups.

This suggests that even if people get vaccinated against the disease, they are less likely to infect others, said MyHeritage Chief Science Officer Yaniv Erlich.

“The data so far are perhaps the clearest from Israel. I believe these vaccines will reduce further transmission,” said Stefan Baral, of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Maryland.

It is unclear whether Israel will be able to maintain the best vaccination speed in the world.

“When you get the vaccine quickly and quickly, you will eventually arrive – the ones that are less willing or harder to reach,” said Boaz Lev, head of the Ministry of Health ‘s advisory panel.

The pace of vaccination is seen as even more important by the rapid spread of the British variable.

“In the race between the changing spread of the UK and the vaccines, the end result is that we are seeing a kind of plateau in terms of people who are very ill,” Segal said.

The big question is whether vaccines can eradicate the pandemic.

Michal Linial, a professor of molecular biology and bioinformatics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said data from recent decades show that viruses are becoming endemic and seasonal.

She expected this coronavirus to be less aggressive, possibly requiring an augmentation bullet within three years.

“The virus is not going anywhere,” she looked.