In Israel, the lost dream of collective immunity to Covid-19 – archyde

In the spring, before the emergence of the Delta variant, Israel was the first country in the world if not to achieve collective immunity against Covid-19, at least to come close enough to claim victory. Until June, the country gradually lifted its restrictions on gatherings, abandoned a green passport system giving access to public places, and ended up renouncing the wearing of masks indoors. Meanwhile, the number of new cases continued to decline, approaching zero.

But, at the end of a carefree summer, the country finds itself fragile in the face of a fourth wave of the epidemic. Its hospitals have nearly 578 patients in serious condition. An impressive rate of circulation of the virus in the general population (6,300 new cases on average over seven days) raises fears that hospitalizations will double in September, during Jewish religious holidays. The healthcare system could then approach a near breaking point in January. Already, the quality of treatments unrelated to Covid is decreasing.

“We were probably very close to collective immunity in March-April. We were victims of fatigue from the epidemic, we believed that it was over, that we had won. But it was impossible to reach this threshold when the children were not vaccinated ”, says Nadav Davidovitch, director of the school of public health at David-Ben-Gurion University. Israel, with a young population, lowered the age at which the vaccine is offered from 16 to 12 in June. “The virus continued to circulate, faster and faster with the appearance of the Alpha and then Delta variants. The lesson we learn is that the vaccine works, but it is not enough ”, summarizes this scientist, member of a committee which advises the government.

“The situation can be contained”

Israel is still reaping the fruits of a vaccination campaign carried out at the end of 2020 with a speed unique in the world, in good agreement with the American laboratory Pfizer, which tested the effectiveness of its vaccine there. During the summer, studies showed that, if the circulation of the Delta variant could no longer be stopped, this vaccine helped to limit its effects. Serious cases remain fewer and less lethal. Israelis infected in the past and who have remained asymptomatic also constitute a barrier against the virus.

However, over time, preliminary Israeli studies indicate that the Pfizer vaccine loses its effectiveness, especially after more than five months. Hence the bet of the new Israeli government, led since June by Naftali Bennett, who says he is firmly opposed to a new confinement, which “Would destroy the future of the country”. For now, he is betting his future on the distribution of a third dose. Offered from July 30 to those over sixty and those at risk, it extends from August 20 to over 40s.

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