DELTA COVID-19 VARIANT INFECTS SOME FULLY VACCINATED ADULTS IN ISRAEL: REPORT

Mon 28 June 2021:

Almost half of adults infected with the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Israel were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer jab, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday.

Israel’s health authorities found that about 90 percent of the new infections were most likely caused by the Delta variant, Ran Balicer, an expert who leads an advisory panel on COVID-19 for the government, told WSJ.

The Delta variant, which was first detected in India in late 2020, contains mutations that have made it more transmissible. A study by Public Health England (PHE) found that the Delta strain was 50 to 60 percent more transmissible than COVID-19’s Alpha variant.

Meanwhile, children under the age of 12 – most of whom were not yet vaccinated – accounted for almost half of the infections.

Israel, where about 55% of the population has been fully vaccinated, reimposed its mask mandate on Friday to combat the rapid rise in Delta cases just 10 days after having lifted it.

Infections more than quadrupled last week, attributed to two school outbreaks. Eligibility for the vaccine was extended to 12- to 15-year-olds last month, but take-up in the age group has been low.

The head of Israel’s pandemic response taskforce, Nachman Ash, said the rise in cases had not been matched by a rise in admissions to hospital or deaths.

The requirement to wear masks indoors was removed a couple of weeks ago but the government decided to reverse that decision to cope with the highly transmissible strain.

“The entrance of the Delta variant has changed the transmission dynamics,” WSJ quoted Balicer as saying.

According to COVID-19 data from Reuters, Israel’s daily infections currently average at around 124. As of Sunday, the country’s total diagnosed cases and COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic’s onset sit at 840,638 and 6,249 respectively.

The World Health Organization is urging even fully vaccinated people to “play it safe” by continuing to wear masks, maintain social distance and practise other safety measures, to deal with the Delta variant.

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