Health Ministry data released Thursday showed Israel's infection rate standing at 6.6%, as 4,076 of the 64,179 people who tested for the coronavirus were found to be carrying COVID-19, Wednesday. There are currently 52,756 active cases, 928 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 296 are on ventilators. So far, 5,486 people have died.
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In encouraging news, after many weeks in which it led the country in infections, both the infection rate and the reproduction rate of Israel's ultra-Orthodox sector decreased dramatically last week.
Throughout Israel's third lockdown, a majority of Haredi cities were red, according to the Health Ministry's traffic light system for classifying locations according to their infection rate. In recent days, however, a majority of these cities went from red to orange, and the reproduction rate is now below the national average.
With 625 Haredim found to be carrying the virus, Wednesday, community members comprised just 14% of the new infections recorded that day. At 11.2%, the infection rate in Haredi communities was higher than the national average but far lower than the 25% infection rate recorded last week. The reproduction rate also declined to 0.72, compared to the national average of 0.86.
At the same time, vaccinations are also on the rise. In the Haredi city of Modi'in Illit, 100% of those aged 60 and over have been inoculated for COVID-19. On average, 72% of Haredim aged 60 and over have been vaccinated, while 49% of Haredim aged 40 to 59 have gotten the jab. The spike in vaccinations is partially due to the vaccination campaign targeting Haredim in recent days.
According to Avi Blumenthal, who heads the Health Ministry's ultra-Orthodox outreach efforts, "We've gotten to the point where the public is asking for a lockdown. Parents are calling yeshivas and asking them not to open. People are begging their friends to adhere to the guidelines."
He noted Haredi media outlets have also enlisted in the fight against anti-vaccine propaganda.
Across the country, 4,138,158 Israelis have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far. Over 2,765,410 have received both doses.
Despite the impact vaccinations have had in keeping the outbreak in Israel under control, a laboratory study carried out by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and BioNTech suggested the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from their vaccine by two-thirds. It remains unclear if the shot will be effective against the mutation.
All Israelis inoculated against the coronavirus have been given the Pfizer vaccine.
The study found the vaccine was still able to neutralize the virus, and there is not yet evidence from trials in people that the variant reduces vaccine protection, the companies said. Talks with regulators were underway on developing an updated version of their mRNA vaccine or a booster shot if needed, the firms said.
For the study, scientists from the companies and the University of Texas Medical Branch developed an engineered virus that contained the same mutations carried on the spike portion of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa, known as B.1.351. The spike, used by the virus to enter human cells, is the primary target of many COVID-19 vaccines.
Researchers tested the engineered virus against blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine and found a two-thirds reduction in the level of neutralizing antibodies compared with its effect on the most common version of the virus prevalent in US trials.
Their findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Because there is no established benchmark yet to determine what level of antibodies are needed to protect against the virus, it is unclear whether that two-thirds reduction will render the vaccine ineffective against the variant spreading around the world.
However, UTMB professor and study co-author Pei-Yong Shi said he believes the Pfizer vaccine will likely be protective against the variant.
"We don't know what the minimum neutralizing number is. We don't have that cutoff line," he said, adding that he suspects the immune response observed is likely to be significantly above where it needs to be to provide protection.
That is because, in clinical trials, both the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and a similar shot from Moderna Inc conferred some protection after a single dose with an antibody response lower than the reduced levels caused by the South African variant in the laboratory study.
Even if the concerning variant significantly reduces effectiveness, the vaccine should still help protect against severe disease and death, he noted. Health experts have said that is the most important factor in keeping stretched healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, health authorities in England have identified 38 cases across the country of a new coronavirus variant that has a key mutation thought to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, the government said on Tuesday.
"There is currently no evidence that this set of mutations causes more severe illness or increased transmissibility," Professor Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said in a statement.
The variant, known as B.1.525, has the E484K spike protein mutation, which is also present in the South African variant and is the key mutation found so far that could undermine the effectiveness of vaccines.
The B.1.525 variant has also been detected in Nigeria, Denmark, and Canada, PHE said.
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