Israel reaching herd immunity?

[lenny2]

"In Israel, more than half (5.3 million) its residents have been vaccinated and an additional 830,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the past, which should give them some natural immunity.

That works out as roughly 68% of the population who are likely to have antibodies in their blood which can fight off the virus.

Prof Eyal Leshem, a director at Israel's largest hospital, the Sheba Medical Center, said herd immunity was the "only explanation" for the fact that cases continued to fall even as more restrictions were lifted.
"There is a continuous decline despite returning to near normalcy," he said.

"This tells us that even if a person is infected, most people they meet walking around won't be infected by them."

And cases are falling in all age groups including children, even though under-16s are not generally being vaccinated.

Google data reflect that many countries remained under lockdown as of the start of the month, with Israel and Chile two notable exceptions.

But unlike in Chile, as Israel opens up and people move around far more, cases have continued to decline.

Covid: 'Israel may be reaching herd immunity'

A leading doctor describes it as the "only explanation" for cases falling as restrictions are eased.

www.bbc.com

 

[basketcase]

That's only because the vaccine has killed them all so there's no one left to be infected!!!


(sorry, with TJ down in the US to get his vaccination, I thought It'd try to fill in)

 

[shack]

That's only because the vaccine has killed them all so there's no one left to be infected!!!


(sorry, with TJ down in the US to get his vaccination, I thought It'd try to fill in)

You had me fooled. But maybe that's too low of a bar.

 

[lomotil]

Herd immunity of the planet or locally of a country of 14 million people ? Furthermore, Israel has found inadequate coverage provided by the Phizer vaccine against the S. African variant which means that potentially once Israel or any country with “local” herd immunity comes out of isolation, they rejoin the pandemic



https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...pfizer-vaccine-israeli-study-says-2021-04-12/

 

[shack]

Herd immunity of the planet or locally of a country of 14 million people ? Furthermore, Israel has found inadequate coverage provided by the Phizer vaccine against the S. African variant which means that potentially once Israel or any country with “local” herd immunity comes out of isolation, they rejoin the pandemic

So, which countries have done better?

 

[lenny2]

Herd immunity of the planet or locally of a country of 14 million people ?

See the OP title.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

www.bloomberg.com

US could reach herd immunity by summer through vaccinations alone, CNN analysis finds

If coronavirus vaccines continue at the current pace, the US could see 70%-85% of the population immunized by September -- a level that should provide herd immunity, a CNN analysis shows.

www.cnn.com

Furthermore, Israel has found inadequate coverage provided by the Phizer vaccine against the S. African variant which means that potentially once Israel or any country with “local” herd immunity comes out of isolation, they rejoin the pandemic

https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...pfizer-vaccine-israeli-study-says-2021-04-12/

It wouldn't be too bright for Israel to include South Africa in the list of countries it is planning to soon open up to.

Yearly covid shots to deal with present and or future VOC may become the norm as it is with the flu/influenza.

 

[lomotil]

So, which countries have done better?

Few to none actually have done better than Israel to date but my point is that it is far too early in the pandemic to declare herd immunity since every citizen on the globe is ultimately connected to every other citizen through this mutating airborne viral pathogen. Much work still needs to be done globally. If countries stay locked down against each other then herd immunity is an illusion.

 

[lomotil]

See the OP title.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

www.bloomberg.com

US could reach herd immunity by summer through vaccinations alone, CNN analysis finds

If coronavirus vaccines continue at the current pace, the US could see 70%-85% of the population immunized by September -- a level that should provide herd immunity, a CNN analysis shows.

www.cnn.com

It wouldn't be too bright for Israel to include South Africa in the list of countries it is planning to soon open up to.

Yearly covid shots to deal with present and or future VOC may become the norm as it is with the flu/influenza.

The variant may have originated in S. African but it has now joined the pandemic and is to be found all over the globe including right here in Toronto so Israel may have a long list of countries on their “not to do list” . In six months to a year from now who knows what will happen with the vaccines, the emerging new variants and local nascent herd immunities in this pandemic.?

 

[shack]

Few to none actually have done better than Israel to date but my point is that it is far too early in the pandemic to declare herd immunity since every citizen on the globe is ultimately connected to every other citizen through this mutating airborne viral pathogen. Much work still needs to be done globally. If countries stay locked down against each other then herd immunity is an illusion.

To paraphrase an old saying, we need to think globally and act nationally, just as Israel has done.

 

[lenny2]

The variant may have originated in S. African but it has now joined the pandemic and is to be found all over the globe including right here in Toronto so Israel may have a long list of countries on their “not to do list” .

The future will reveal how soon and how many countries open travel bubbles with Israel.

The S. African variant has even been found in Israel, but is pretty much irrelevant there. In most countries it is not even known to exist. And even where it has been detected it is generally not the dominant strain, but a very minor one.

"... it hasn’t become a major source of new infections outside the southern African region, likely due to limited travel during the pandemic. South African researchers say that the variant doesn’t appear to lead to more severe cases of Covid-19."

"Are there any cases of this new strain in the U.S.?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only around 0.5% of Covid-19 infections in the U.S. since the beginning of the year are due to the B.1.351. That is far fewer than those caused by a separate variant, known as B.1.17, that was first detected in the U.K. and has now become the dominant strain in the U.S."

South Africa Covid-19 Strain: What We Know About the New Variant

Researchers warn that the new variant, found in the U.S. and at least 60 countries, may spread faster and could reduce the efficacy of vaccines.

www.wsj.com

"Experts say that this variant of concern - along with a few others - may be able to get round some of the protection offered by vaccines or previous Covid infection, although existing jabs should still work to stop severe illness."

"...Current vaccines are designed around original Covid, but should still offer some protection against new variants.

It is too soon to know exactly how much protection they give, until more tests are completed, although it is extremely unlikely the mutations would render vaccines useless.

...Even in the worst case scenario, vaccines can be redesigned and tweaked to provide a better match in a matter or weeks or months, if necessary.

South Africa coronavirus variant: What is the risk?

Why experts are concerned about the emergence of this particular new version of coronavirus.

www.bbc.com

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