According to Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of Public Health Services, the majority of the COVID-19 patients in severe conditions are unvaccinated. She highlighted the trend the same day that new data was released by the US Centers for Disease Control showing that unvaccinated people were 11 times more likely to die from the coronavirus. Alroy-Preis said that the patients in hospitals that were severely ill hadn’t been vaccinated. She also added that almost every patient on the ventilator was unvaccinated. In terms of numbers, she said that two-third of the 175 ventilated patients were unvaccinated.
In addition, there were around 27 patients who were connected to ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines, and 90% of them were not vaccinated and were below the age of 60. Speaking to the 850,000 Israelis who have decided not to get vaccinated, she said that it wasn’t about how many people could catch the virus, but about saving lives. She said that these people were just endangering themselves. Ayelet Shaked, the Interior Minister, also shared on Friday that of the 28 patients who were on ventilators, 25 of them were unvaccinated. Shaked called on the people to get their first, second, and third shot because it can save lives.
The data from the Health Ministry shows that 65% of the serious cases in the country in the month of August were because of unvaccinated people. Several studies were also published on Friday by US federal health officials and all suggested that vaccination offers solid protection to people for combating the virus, particularly the Delta variant. The CDC’s first report showed that between April and July 2021, there were 600,000 virus cases in a total of 13 US states as well as large cities and these indicate that people who haven’t been vaccinated are more likely to contract COVID-19, develop a severe case, or even die.
The study found that in the last two months, unvaccinated people were 4.5 times more likely to get coronavirus, as opposed to those who are fully vaccinated. Likewise, they were 10 times more likely to end up in the hospital and 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19. The study also indicated that vaccines are quite effective at preventing infection, but they have shown that the collective level of effectiveness has declined to 78% from 91%. Last month, Joe Biden, the US president had also announced that they would begin giving third shots to citizens, starting from September 20th.
Alroy Preis will also present Israeli data regarding the booster shots to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, along with a professor of systems biology. According to the Health Ministry, they have already given more than 2.8 million booster shots to Israelis so far, which is an achievement. The booster shots had become widely available from the 1st of August. Israel had conducted a study regarding the third booster shot, which showed that those who received it were 10 times more protected against severe infection, as compared to those who had gotten two doses.