According to new data, more young Israelis are being hospitalized for COVID-19 than older ones, according to new data indicating that Israel’s vaccination campaign may have an effect.
As of Wednesday, the number of Israelis under the age of 60 recently hospitalized for COVID-19 has surpassed the number of new hospitalizations aged 60 and older.
There were 708 new hospital admissions among the younger group and 575 for the older group. The change first took place on Feb. 4, and the gap seems to have been widening since then.
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The figure represents the total of new hospital admissions in the past week. There are 1,598 Israelis in hospitals – more than the sum of new hospital admissions, as many patients stay in the hospital for more than a week.
Figures collected by Our World in Data from Oxford show hospital admissions in Israel. (Courtesy)
Israel primarily uses the Pfizer-BioNTech injection, which requires two doses several weeks apart for full effect, but appears to provide some protection for several days after receiving the first dose.
By February 6, the most recent day the data were available by age group, 90% of Israelis over 60 had received their first dose of vaccine and 80% had received their second dose.
Of the 16 to 59 year olds, 37% had received their first dose and 20% the second. The vaccine is available to all Israelis ages 16 and older.
Forty-two percent of the general population has received one dose of the vaccine and 27% both doses. Israel vaccinated a total of 3.7 million people with the first shot and 2.3 million with both injections.
Our World in Data, a scientific website at the University of Oxford, collected the data from Israel with the help of Israeli researchers. It has turned to Israel to assess the impact of its world-leading vaccination campaign.
It noted that recent changes in infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths cannot be attributed solely to the impact of vaccination. For example, around the same time as the vaccination campaign, new virus variants and the national lockdown came into play and they also influence the data.
Eran Segal, a researcher at Israel’s Weizmann Institute, said Thursday that since the pandemic peaked in mid-January, there were 58% fewer cases, 44% fewer new hospitalizations and 40% fewer deaths for people over 60.
Confirmed new cases for all Israelis are on a downward trend since mid-January, but for those under 60, the weekly average is still over 37,000 per week. The pandemic peaked in Israel on January 17 with an average of more than 8,000 new cases per day.
An Israeli receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Jerusalem, February 10, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Alarmingly, the number of hospitalizations for younger Israelis appears to be on an upward trend since mid-December, despite the vaccination campaign, which began on December 19, and the nationwide lockdown, which began January 8.
Also, the proportion of new cases among children and teens has been growing since the end of January, despite the closure of schools.
Officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have blamed more contagious variants for the apparent impenetrability of the third wave outbreak for the lockdown and vaccination campaign.
The total number of hospital admissions for people over 60, and for the population as a whole, has fallen since a peak of nearly 2,000 hospital admissions in mid-January.
The number of new deaths has also been declining since the end of January, when it reached its highest rate since the start of the pandemic at 65 deaths a week.
Ynet’s news site said Thursday that no hospital staff had reached a vaccination rate greater than 90%, including those who had recovered from the virus, according to figures from the Ministry of Health. In some hospitals, less than 60% of the staff has received the first dose of the vaccine.
Nationally, there have been a total of 712,078 infections and there are 67,796 active cases. The death toll is 5,266.
Vaccination coverage has been leveling off in recent days, prompting officials to encourage more younger Israelis to take the shots and to crack down on the comments on the vaccination on social media.