About per week after Israel began administering the second dose, a pointy decline in cases was noticed for these aged 60 years and above, who had been prioritised for vaccination
Israel administered 63 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for each 100 residents, the best vaccination fee in the world as of February 6. The U.S. ranks a distant second at 12 doses per 100 residents, whereas India’s fee was even decrease at 0.4 per 100. On December 20, 2020, Israel started vaccinating and prioritised these aged 60 years and above. By mid-January, the variety of new COVID-19 cases and associated hospitalisations of these aged over 60 declined rapidly, probably because of the vaccination drive, in line with a analysis examine by Israeli scientists*. Moreover, the examine dominated out different elements reminiscent of lockdowns for the drop in cases, lending additional credence to the constructive affect of the vaccination marketing campaign.
Priority group
Over 88% of residents aged 60 or above (in gentle blue) acquired the first dose, and 78% obtained each doses (in darkish blue), as of February 6. Among these aged 59 or under, 37% acquired the first dose (in gentle yellow) whereas solely 16% obtained each doses (in darkish yellow).
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Bending the curve
About per week after Israel began administering the second dose, cases lowered among each age teams, with the decline a lot sharper for these aged 60 years and above, who had been prioritised for vaccination. Two weeks after the second dose, average or extreme cases of COVID-19-related hospitalisation fell considerably for these aged 60 and above, whereas for these aged 59 and under, such hospitalisations elevated. These outcomes might probably be attributed to the vaccination marketing campaign.
Negating different causes
The examine in contrast the variety of cases and hospitalisations throughout two time durations — following the second lockdown in Israel on September 18, 2020 and the third on January 8, 2021. A sharper decline in cases among these aged 60 or above, in comparison with youthful residents, was noticed solely submit the third lockdown, when the second dose was launched. The examine additionally discovered that the decline in cases among older residents occurred earlier in Israeli cities, the place the vaccination drive kicked in earlier and later in cities the place the marketing campaign began later.
*Source: “Patterns of COVID-19 pandemic dynamics…”, Rossman, Segal, et al.
