Health care workers on duty taking swabs for coronavirus tests in Jerusalem, July 22, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
People vaccinated before late February are twice as likely to
catch the coronavirus than other inoculated Israelis, according to new
research.
“We looked at tens of thousands of people tested in the month of
June, alongside data on how long had passed since their second shot, and
found that those vaccinated early were more likely to test positive,”
Dr. Yotam Shenhar, who headed the research, told The Times of Israel.
“This definitely reinforces the argument for giving a third vaccine dose to the elderly.”
The report, published by the healthcare provider Leumit, comes on the
heels of other Israeli studies that suggest a decreasing vaccine
effectiveness, partly as a result of the Delta variant and partly
because of the passage of time. However, British data indicates the Israeli studies may be overstating the case.
Data released by the Health Ministry on Thursday
suggested that people vaccinated in January were said to have just 16%
protection against infection now, while in those vaccinated in April the
effectiveness was at 75%
The Leumit study looked only at the apparent waning of protection
over time, and divided the vaccinated population into two based on
inoculation dates, comparing early vaccinators to late vaccinators.
An Israeli youth receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tel Aviv on July 6, 2021. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
Shenhar, head of Leumit’s labs, acknowledged that the early
vaccinators group includes many people who raced to get shots because
they have underlying illnesses, which may make them more vulnerable to
infection. But he said that could not fully account for the stark effect
seen in the data.
Shenhar said the data should prompt the government to seriously consider booster shots for over-70s.
“Now we see vaccination effectiveness drops, so it seems we
definitely need to think about a third vaccine,” he said. “We have
started already by giving the immunocompromised, but in my assessment we
need to consider giving third shots to everyone over 70 or 80. We
shouldn’t wait long; we need to make a decision fast.”
If he were formulating policy, Shenhar said, he would “definitely” start giving boosters to elderly Israelis.
In his study, the apparent waning effect in immunity was felt across
all ages. For all age groups, early vaccinators were 1.95 times more
likely to be confirmed coronavirus positive. Among those aged 60-plus,
early vaccinators are twice as likely to get infected. For those aged
40-59 early vaccinators are 2.1 times more vulnerable, and among under
39s they are 1.6 more likely to catch the coronavirus.
“In a previous analysis we showed that as time passes since the
vaccine, the level of antibodies drops at a rate of about 40% per month.
This new study builds a clearer picture of the effect seen in the
months after vaccination,” said Shenhar.
Israel has seen a dramatic rise in recent COVID-19 infections, with
the daily caseload rising from several dozen to over 1,400 in recent
days.
'America's daughters shouldn't be drafted against their will':
Conservatives blast proposal that would require women to register for
the military draft alongside men
Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved a controversial provision in Senate National Defense Authorization Act
It
would require women between the ages of 18 and 25 to register with the
Selective Service System for possible conscription into the military
Current
law requires all men who reach the age of 18 to register with the
Selective Service, who would then draft them into military in case of
emergency
Senators Tom Cotton
and Josh Hawley, two Republicans on the Senate panel, voted against the
provision, saying they opposed drafting women into military
In
2015, the military lifted its ban on females serving in combat roles
and women's groups have been urging Congress to change the law
Jul 6, 2021 — Israel's health ministry said Monday the effectiveness of the COVID-19 shot developed by BioNTech SE BNTX, +8.23% and Pfizer Inc. PFE, ...
Jul 6, 2021 — Vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% since June 6, the Health Ministry said. At the same time ...
Jul 5, 2021 — The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has dropped to 64 percent effectiveness in preventing infection in Israel as the delta variant ...
now
Pfizer Inc.’s
Covid-19 vaccine provided a strong shield against hospitalization and
more severe disease in cases caused by the contagious delta variant in
Israel in recent weeks, even though it was just 39% effective in
preventing infections, according to the country’s health ministry.
The vaccine, developed with BioNTech SE,
provided 88% protection against hospitalization and 91% against severe
illness for an unspecified number of people studied between June 20 and
July 17, according to a report Thursday from the health ministry.
The
data could be skewed because of different ways of testing vaccinated
groups of people versus those who hadn’t been inoculated, according to
the report.
“The heavily skewed exposure patterns in the recent outbreak in
Israel, which are limited to specific population sectors and
localities,” means the analysis may not be able to take all factors into
account, said Ran Balicer, chairman of Israel’s national expert
advisory team on Covid-19 response. “We are trying to complement this
research approach with additional ones, taking additional personal
characteristics into account. But this takes time and larger case
numbers.”
5 hours ago — Pfizer Shot Halts Severe Illness, Allows Infection in Israel · Vaccine protects against hospitalization versus delta strain · Variant has been ...
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