For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Israel now says that more than a quarter of its most serious cases in Covid-19, where hospitalization is required, occur in patients under the age of 60.
The Israeli Ministry of Health is blaming a new strain first discovered in the UK last month.
Dr. Itamar Grotto, associate director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health, explained: “This is because the new variant in the United Kingdom is more infectious, especially among young people and children”.
The news that Israeli hospitals now have a record number of serious cases from Covid came 24 hours after Israel started a “second dose” campaign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to get his second chance yesterday.
Israel was praised by the global health community for acting so quickly to vaccinate. So far, almost two million Israelis have had their first chance, of about 9 million people. Israel has a highly centralized health system, where everyone must register on a digital system – making it easier for the Ministry of Health to organize the vaccination campaign across the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a second dose of the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, near the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on January 9, 2021.
MIRIAM ALSTER | AFP | Getty Images
Despite success on the vaccine front, Israel is currently in its third national confinement due to the spread of the virus. Without minimizing concern about the increase in the percentage of young people hospitalized with serious infections, Grotto, an epidemiologist, points out that almost 70% of Israelis over 60 have already received their first injection, providing them with some immunity.
CNBC contributor and former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb has been keeping an eye on trends in Israel and Europe since the pandemic began a year ago, and using them as a possible model for what could happen in the United States, including the recently discovered United Kingdom variant.
“If we can implant the vaccine, we can probably avoid it,” said Gottlieb, referring to the most dangerous and fastest-spreading strain.
He thinks the recent and alarming rise in cases in the U.S. is more related to vacation travel and meetings, “but the bottom line is that we don’t have a surveillance system good enough to know for sure,” said Gottlieb.
The UK variant, he said, is officially responsible for only 0.2% of cases in the United States. Gottlieb also warned that US health officials are still not looking as carefully as they should for the increasingly dangerous strain that is wreaking havoc on the overburdened South African health system.