Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on January 9. (Miriam Elster / Pool via Reuters)
JERUSALEM: Israel, which has already given a full set of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines to more than 6% of its citizens, has not registered a single serious case of Covid-19 among them, despite the increase in infections in the general population, said the government on Tuesday.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told a parliamentary panel that new infections and hospital admissions for serious or critical complications from Covid-19 were now in record numbers.
But he said he knew of “no serious morbidity” among Israelis eligible for the vaccination certificate – a document issued by the state a week after the second dose is administered, when Pfizer says the vaccine is 95% effective. He said 0.014% contracted milder forms of Covid-19.
Israel started what became the world’s fastest per capita distribution of vaccines against the new coronavirus on December 19, using the injection developed by the American company Pfizer Inc and the German BioNTech.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, 23% received the first injection and more than 6% the second, between 21 and 28 days later.
The ministry blames highly transmissible variants originated abroad by the setbacks in Israel’s attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
A week after the vaccination started, the country imposed its third national blockade, which, according to authorities, may need to be extended until February.
But last Thursday, he reported a reproduction number – known as “R” – of less than 1, indicating that the epidemic is no longer growing.