The approval of the Ministry of Health comes against the background of the arrival of an additional stock of vaccines, and in view of the funds’ preparations for expanding the vaccination campaign. At a meeting of the directors of the funds a few days ago, they asked to expand the operation but were denied by the director general of the Ministry of Health. Israel Today has learned that they have applied to the Ministry of Health again and today received approval.
Continuation of the corona vaccine to the population // Archive photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health published the morbidity data this morning. 10,021 new verified were detected in more than one hundred thousand tests conducted yesterday, with the positive rate standing at 10.2%. This is a record of daily infections since the plague began.
The number of active patients now stands at 81,059 people, with 1,114 corona patients hospitalized in critical condition in hospitals, 277 of whom are connected to respirators. Yesterday, 44 more deaths were recorded, and as of today, 4,049 corona patients have died in Israel.
Edelstein: “It is impossible to live with an average of 8,160 verified per day and 1,100 critically ill patients in hospitals”
According to a report by the Intelligence Division, Israel ranks first not only in the number of vaccinated but also in the number of daily verified in relation to the population. This can be attributed to the high number of tests conducted in the country, since in terms of positive percentage And the United Kingdom.
In parallel with the alarming morbidity data, Health Minister Yuli (Yoel) Edelstein announced this morning that another record of vaccinators in Israel has been broken – 186,000 a day. Of these vaccines, 114,000 were given as a second dose and 72,000 as a first dose. The Minister added: “In the State of Israel, there are 2.2 million people vaccinated in the first dose, 422,000 vaccinated in two doses. This is how the corona is defeated!”
During an interview with the GLC, Prof. Ash referred to the growing morbidity situation and said: “The load is very large, the hospitals can withstand it, but it is impossible to maintain such a load in the hospitals for a long time. It should be remembered that in very active operations operating rooms and other toilets are closed and patients are injured. The number of serious patients must be reduced. Therefore, it is recommended to extend the closure for another two weeks, I think that at this time we must accept this recommendation. “
He added: “We do not like this closure, it has serious implications for business, education, but it is impossible to continue at this level of morbidity … it is not that we will ask for two weeks or ten days and miraculously it will be resolved, we have no promise it will help and we will have to examine the data.” .
Prof. Nachman Ash: “Anyone who has been a week since being vaccinated in the second dose will not go into isolation” // Photo: GPO
This means that if it continues in the coming days, the morbidity will increase significantly. “However, he added that in previous waves we had such records of a few days, it should be seen over several days.
On the mutations, Prof. Ash said: “There is a fear that there will be vaccine-resistant mutations, the fear is currently theoretical and we are examining the mutations from the existing knowledge in the world. We are also making efforts to test, at the moment our assessment is that the vaccine works on the mutations, but there may be a change. An advantage for Pfizer and Modernera vaccines that can be changed quickly to suit mutations. “