For the first time since the summer, fewer than 100 people were found to be infected with the coronavirus, Saturday. Just 86 of the 11,173 people who tested for the virus were found to be carrying COVID-19, according to Health Ministry data released Sunday, for an infection rate of 0.8%.
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The reproduction rate is now 0.73.
Israel currently has 3,890 active cases of the virus, 263 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 139 are on ventilators.
Although 825,687 people have recovered from the virus, 6,294 have died.
As for Israel's vaccination campaign, over 5,310,216 people had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine while at least 4,921,648 had received both doses. Of the 6,000 Israelis to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, Saturday, 2,000 received their first dose of the vaccine. Eighty-seven percent of Israelis aged 50 and over have been inoculated thus far.
The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed.
The study, released on Saturday, compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 14 days or more after they received one or two doses of the vaccine against the same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease. It matched age and gender, among other characteristics.
The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make up about 1% of all the COVID-19 cases across all the people studied, according to the study by Tel Aviv University and Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit.
But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant's prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated - 5.4% versus 0.7%.
This suggests the vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, compared with the original coronavirus and a variant first identified in Britain that has come to comprise nearly all COVID-19 cases in Israel, the researchers said.
"We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine's protection," said Tel Aviv University's Adi Stern.
The researchers cautioned, though, that the study only had a small sample size of people infected with the South African variant because of its rarity in Israel.
They also said the research was not intended to deduce overall vaccine effectiveness against any variant, since it only looked at people who had already tested positive for COVID-19 and not at overall infection rates.
Pfizer and BioNTech could not be immediately reached for comment outside business hours.
The companies said on April 1 that their vaccine was around 91% effective at preventing COVID-19, citing updated trial data that included participants inoculated for up to six months.
In respect to the South African variant, they said that among a group of 800 study volunteers in South Africa, where B.1.351 is widespread, there were nine cases of COVID-19, all of which occurred among participants who got the placebo. Of those nine cases, six were among individuals infected with the South African variant.
Some previous studies have indicated that the Pfizer/BioNTech shot was less potent against the B.1.351 variant than against other variants of the coronavirus, but still offered a robust defense.
While the results of the study may cause concern, the low prevalence of the South African strain was encouraging, according to Stern.
"Even if the South African variant does break through the vaccine's protection, it has not spread widely through the population," said Stern, adding that the British variant may be "blocking" the spread of the South African strain.
Ninety-three doctors in Israel have signed a petition against the vaccination of children, Channel 12 News reported. The move comes follows Pfizer's requesting emergency approval for the use of its coronavirus vaccine in children aged 12 to 15 from the US Food and Drug Administration and Health Ministry plans to expand Israel's vaccination campaign to children.
According to the doctors, the risks of vaccinating children at this stage outweigh any benefits.
In a letter to government officials submitted Sunday and seen by Channel 12 News, the doctors called for the government to "do no harm" as "we do not understand everything about the virus and the vaccine."
"The prevailing opinion in the scientific community is that the vaccine cannot lead to her immunity, and therefore there is no 'altruistic' justification for vaccinating children to protect the at-risk population. It is our belief that not even a handful of children should be put at risk by the vaccine for a disease that is not dangerous to them. Moreover, we cannot rule that the vaccine may have negative long-term influences that have yet to be discovered at this time, including on growth, the reproductive system, or fertility."
They said, "Children must be allowed a speedy return to routine; the mass testing and wide quarantine circles must end, and there should be no separation of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in the public space."
Israel has largely reopened its economy in recent weeks while the pandemic appears to be receding, with infection rates, severe illness, and hospitalizations dropping sharply.
Asked by Tel Aviv-based 103FM Radio about the possibility Israel was set to fully reopen the economy and the education sector, coronavirus chief Nachman Ash said, "We are still worried because the children aren't vaccinated that if we move too quickly, the morbidity can spike … We are really not far away from a full reopening."
About a third of Israelis are below the age of 16, which means they are still not eligible for the shot.
As for concerns over the slight increase in the reproduction rate of late, Ash sought to assure listeners, saying, "Since these are small numbers, I don't see the beginning of an outbreak."
In its latest report, the military intelligence task force on the coronavirus emphasized the lack of coronavirus vaccines around the world.
"Morbidity in many countries in Europe is on the rise, as well as in India and South America. Against this background, the vaccine crisis in Europe and the rest of the world (slow vaccination rates alongside concerns over AstraZeneca's vaccines) has led to increased pressure to acquire vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which have proven to be safer and more effective. To our knowledge, a delay in completing the purchase of booster vaccines from Pfizer … for Israel could harm our ability to maintain the impressive achievements of these vaccines in Israel."
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