Things are going back to normal as Israel vaccinates over half of its population with Pfizer vaccine.
After over a year that our planet has been hit with the crisis of the world pandemic, regional vaccine wars between countries and regions started hitting the ceiling. Israel has outrun the issues long ago, and managed to place itself in the top 3 nations in the world for completed vaccination. In early march of this year, 57.1% of the population has already received their first dose, and 52.9% their second one. This makes the overall figure of individuals who have received the full dosage of vaccines over 4,921,648 people. According to Prof Yeheskel Levy, the director of the Israeli health ministry, the impact of vaccination had been profound. “Incidence rates in the fully vaccinated population have massively dropped compared to the unvaccinated population, showing a marked decline in hospitalised cases due to Covid-19.”
The long-awaited benefits which the vaccinated group are receiving made everyone want to take the dose. Israel has allowed its vaccinated citizens to return to gyms, restaurants and concerts. Life is slowly returning to normal, and the scenes of young people dancing in cafes again, prove it. Numerous social media posts of cafes in Israel have created a buzz in where vaccinated young Israelis are sitting, drinking, chatting and having fun appeared, encouraging the non-vaccinated to take the shot as life is closer to get back to normal than we think.
The Israeli Ministry of Health even considered lifting the rules on wearing masks outdoors, their aim being to immunize all adults, and even offer free drinks and meals to their citizens who are still hesitant and have not been vaccinated!
The country has used only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which demonstrated high protection against the Covid-19 virus. The top line of the real-world results issued by the Israeli ministry of health stated that the efficacy of the vaccine is 97% against the disease and death and 94% against the infection symptoms, making it one of the strongest and most protective vaccines currently in the market. According to Uğur Şahin, the chief executive of BioNTech “The real-world data reported from Israel demonstrate that the vaccine is exceptionally effective in fighting Sars-CoV-2. Our vaccine has been effective in preventing Covid-19 cases, as well as profoundly reducing the rate of Covid-19-related severe diseases, hospitalisations and deaths.”
The mass vaccination and Israel’s reopening has only benefited the Israeli economy as they are booming in consumer activity. According to the Bank of Israel, the expenditure is running 19% ahead of January 2020, suggesting that a big surge in economic activity is driven by the Covid-19 vaccination.
By: Mina Vučić