The impact of the COVID-19 vaccines was so dramatic that elderly Israelis are using roughly the same number of fans as those under 50, the researchers said on Sunday.
In October, Israelis over 70 who needed respiratory support outnumbered those under 50 by almost six to one. But now, after intense vaccination among the elderly, the ratio is 1.07 to 1, respectively, according to a research team from several institutions.
Israel currently has 241 ventilated patients. Notably, this is a total number higher than the October numbers – but it occurs amid an unprecedented wave of infection that had far higher rates of morbidity and mortality than during previous outbreaks.
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The researchers believe the data reflect the vaccine by reducing infection rates and smoothing the disease for those who are infected, but have not looked at the extent of each effect.
The data was compiled by a research team at Ben Gurion University, Shamir Medical Center and Maccabi Healthcare Services. Some of his research was published in the Weekly Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States on Friday.
“The end result is that the vaccine appears to have a broad protective effect against serious diseases, and this is the most important result,” Ben Gurion University epidemiology researcher Ehud Rinott told The Times of Israel.
He added that, although the spread of the coronavirus remains a concern, the figures indicate that the concern that motivated many of the measures to combat the pandemic – mainly the concern about the spread of serious diseases among the elderly – seems to be dissipating.
“We must remember that the reason we are concerned about the coronavirus is not because of the high rates of infection or mild illness, but because it can lead to [patients] to be unable to breathe on their own, ”commented Rinott.
A coronavirus ward at Galilee Medical Center (Ancho Gosh Jini Photo Agency via Galilee Medical Center)
The team’s article details a sharp drop in the proportion of ventilated patients – mainly those on ventilation machines, but also those who receive respiratory support by other means – who are over 70 compared to less than 50. The proportion was 5 , 8 to 1 in October, and when the Article sent in early February was 1.9 to 1.
Since the article was prepared for publication, it has dropped to a ratio of 1.07 to 1. Since the researchers wanted to compare older and younger demographics, they did not analyze the 51- to 69-year-old group.
Currently, about 87% of people aged 70 to 79 are fully vaccinated, as are 82% of citizens over 80.
A ventilator helps a COVID-19 patient to breathe inside the Coronavirus Unit at a Houston hospital, July 6, 2020. (AP Photo / David J. Phillip, Archive)
Rinott noted that the change in ventilation needs happened at the height of Israel’s third wave, as the overall number of people ventilated increased, when more than 50 years old began to be ventilated just when vaccines were taking effect among the elderly.
Rinott acknowledged that factors other than vaccines, such as the increase in the UK variant and the effects of the blockade, may have impacted the results, but that the vaccination factor must be considered highly significant.
He expressed hope that the drop in ventilated cases among the overwhelmingly vaccinated group of more than 70 would inspire younger Israelis, who are slow to vaccinate to do so. He said he illustrates that ending up on a respirator due to the coronavirus was increasingly an “avoidable danger”.
The report comes in the wake of other studies that indicate that vaccines reduce infection rates and viral loads among those who contract the virus.
