COVID vaccine 64% effective against Delta variant, says Health Ministry

In the past month, the coronavirus vaccine has proven to be 64% effective against symptomatic infection by the Delta variant, the Health Ministry reported Monday. It then gave the green light for a booster shot for immunocompromised patients, as the coronavirus cabinet prepares to meet today to discuss new measures to fight against the new outbreak.

Although the ministry also reported that the inoculation’s ability to prevent serious morbidity has remained very high, currently standing at 93%, the cabinet is expected to discuss the possibility of additional restrictions on the public.

Among others, the authorities will examine an outline to bring back a version of the “green pass” for venues and gatherings mostly attended by unvaccinated or vulnerable audiences – like children or the elderly. Until a few weeks ago, the green pass system limited access to certain activities only to vaccinated and recovered individuals, or to children not eligible for a jab with a negative PCR test.

The move was recommended in a meeting of the Advisory Committee for Corona Vaccines Sunday night.

According to Israeli media, health officials will also recommend demanding an additional test for all those entering Israel from abroad after four days, as well as expanding the list of countries from where incoming travelers are required to quarantine even if they are inoculated or recovered.

The list currently includes only a limited number of nations under travel ban: Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. If the recommendation will be accepted, the number of countries would increase significantly to include all those which at the moment are under travel warning, but having no practical consequences for travelers, such as Turkey, Cyprus and

the United Arab Emirates.

The government is also expected to step up enforcement against those who fail to wear their masks in closed public spaces.

According to a member of the advisory committee who spoke to The Jerusalem Post, the health officials will not recommend reinstating the “Purple Ribbon” program, which reduced the number of people allowed in stores and other businesses, among other restrictions.

AS OF 6 p.m. on Monday, some 369 cases had already been identified, marking a new three-month daily record.

Some 343 new virus carriers were identified on Sunday, with 0.7% of the 50,000 tests processed returning a positive result. Four weeks earlier, there were only six new cases, out of about 17,000 tests performed – less than 0.1% positive. In the last weekdays of last week, around 300-320 new cases were found per day. Experts believe that in the upcoming days, Israel will register as many as 500-600 new virus carriers per day – and the number could climb further.

At the same time, since the beginning of the new outbreak, the increase in serious morbidity has been minimal. On Monday, the number of serious patients stood at 35. At its lowest in midJune, it stood at 21. In April, with a similar number of active cases in the country, Israel had over 100 such patients, and at the peak of the pandemic in January there were more than 1,200.

In addition, in the past three weeks, only one patient succumbed to the virus.

According to health officials, some 90% of current cases in the country are of the Delta variant.

Among those infected, almost half are schoolchildren, a significant percentage of whom were already fully vaccinated – more than 40% in the past week.

IN THE PAST, health officials and experts repeatedly emphasized that the vaccine was never known to be 100% effective, and in a country with such a high rate of immunized population – about 56% – it was normal that some of them would catch the virus.

However, as noted, the ministry’s new data revealed that as the Delta variant spread, the inoculation seemed have become less effective in preventing people from contracting the virus, although both children and vaccinated individuals are unlikely to develop a serious form of the disease – which might help explain why the rise in morbidity has not been followed by an equivalent raise in serious cases – at least up until now.

However, the rate of unvaccinated patients among those who are currently in serious condition is decreasing drastically. On Sunday, the patients in serious conditions who were not vaccinated stood at 57% – including one child and one pregnant woman. In the past few months, they were almost 90%.

Among the patients hospitalized, the rate stood at almost 53%.

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa said that of the six patients hospitalized in their coronavirus ward, only one was not inoculated.

Four patients in serious conditions – all of them over 75 – were fully immunized, as is a woman who just gave birth and is in mild condition.

AS RECOMMENDED by the Advisory Committee for Corona Vaccines, the Health Ministry has decided that it will move forward with offering a booster shot to individuals who are immunosuppressed.

The ministry said that it will not offer an additional shot of the Pfizer vaccine to the general public at this time, adding that there has been no official recommendation by any medical or regulatory body to give a third shot, but that such a recommendation or approval is not required.

“I have been pushing to give a third dose of the vaccine to those who are immunosuppressed,” Prof. Galia Rahav, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba Medical Center told 103FM Radio Monday morning. “I’ve been trying to get it going for three months now and I hope it happens in the next few days.”

With regards to when a third shot might be available to the general public, Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy said in an interview with Israel Radio on Monday morning that this will likely not be imminent.

“In Britain, they are talking about a third shot in September-October,” he said. “We are not talking about that yet – certainly not in the coming days.”

The director-general confirmed that the experts discussed the subject on Sunday night and acknowledged that antibodies wane overtime.

“We are aware of what is happening in the world, monitoring and testing the levels of antibodies among those vaccinated,” Levy told Israel Radio.

Also on Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Israel will conduct research to understand more about the Pfizer vaccine’s efficacy.

The ministry will conduct two parallel studies. One will focus on vaccinated individuals who have been infected, examining their age group, underlying medical conditions and more. The other will test cellular immunity in inoculated people through serological tests, which check the presence and level of antibodies in the blood.