By Daniel Levi
In April, IB Times wrote a piece titled, “Israel Is The Most Vaccinated Country, But The B.1.617 Is Threatening It Now.” At the time, Israel was one of the few countries that reported 41 new cases of the B.1.617, also known as the “Delta” variant which originated from India. Of the 41 cases reported, four people were vaccinated.
As of August 13, 2021, around 64 percent of the population of Israel (over 80% of adults) had been given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, according to data from Statista.
But the situation in Israel is getting worse. Despite sweeping vaccinations, the country faces a new surge in covid cases and Israel health officials are warning that Israel could face a fourth lockdown during the Jewish holiday season in September unless additional booster shots are given to Covid patients.
Per Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s instructions, Israel is now is planning to vaccinate 24 hours a day, seven days a week in an attempt to slow down and stop the covid surge, Jerusalem Post reported.
Israeli health officials are also predicting that the number of patients hospitalized with the virus will double every 10 days. In a tweet, Jerusalem Post said:
“Health officials in #Israel are predicting that the number of serious patients with #coronavirus will double every 10 days, hitting as many as 2,400 by September 10. The highest number of serious patients until now was around 1,200, in January 2020.”
The Jerusalem Post on X (formerly Twitter): “Health officials in #Israel are predicting that the number of serious patients with #coronavirus will double every 10 days, hitting as many as 2,400 by September 10. The highest number of serious patients until now was around 1,200, in January 2020.https://t.co/Wj6BkhrEaz / X”
Health officials in #Israel are predicting that the number of serious patients with #coronavirus will double every 10 days, hitting as many as 2,400 by September 10. The highest number of serious patients until now was around 1,200, in January 2020.https://t.co/Wj6BkhrEaz
Just last week, Israel’s top health official Dr. Kobi Haviv, who is also the Director of the Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, says that “95% of the severe patients are vaccinated. 85-90% of the hospitalizations are in Fully vaccinated people.” Dr. Haviv added, “We are opening more and more COVID wards. The effectiveness of the vaccine is waning/fading out.”
Meanwhile, Israel Health Ministry reported Saturday night that there were 5,868 people diagnosed with coronavirus on Friday. “The number of serious cases stood at 494. Some 4.93% of the people screened had a positive result,” JP added.
Jerusalem Post is not alone. Hoda Abdel Hamid, Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid reporter in Tel Aviv, Israel, said that the fourth wave of COVID is now back in Israel, with the number of new cases rising to more than 6,000 per day.
“The government is now calling on citizens over 60 to get a third dose which, raising concerns about the disparity of vaccine distribution around the world,” Hamid wrote. Below is a video of hospitalized covid patients in some of Israel’s hospitals.
