Israel unveiled a plan on Saturday to allow people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend cultural events, fly abroad and go to health clubs and restaurants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the plan at a news conference on Saturday night, saying those who have been vaccinated will be able to download the “green badge” in the coming days. “The green badge is gradually opening up the country,” Netanyahu said. Israel has conducted the world’s speediest vaccine campaign over the past month and a half, inoculating nearly half of its 9.3 million people. But with the coronavirus still spreading rapidly among the unvaccinated, the country only recently began emerging from a two-month lockdown.

The Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 is 99.2% effective in preventing serious complications of the coronavirus and 98.9% effective in preventing death, according to new data released by Israel’s Health Ministry on Motzei Shabbos. The effectiveness of the vaccine was measured seven days after the second dose – when immunity is officially reached according to Pfizer clincial trials – and another seven days later. Morbidity and mortality rates among those vaccinated were then compared to rates of those not yet vaccinated. The study also showed that the vaccine decreases the chance of hospitalization by 98.9% and reduces morbidity by 95.8%.

The gas ozone, known as an atmospheric gas that blocks harmful UV rays, can disinfect surfaces contaminated by the coronavirus, according to a recent study by researchers at Tel Aviv University, Bar Ilan University and Azrieli College. Ozone, which apart from its role in blocking UV rays, is commonly used for its antibacterial and antiviral qualities, was 90% successful at inactivating COVID-19 on surfaces, even in difficult-to-reach places that liquid disinfectants can’t reach, according to the university’s study. The researchers harnessed the mechanisms through which ozone is used as an oxidant and disinfectant in water and wastewater treatment to kill the coronavirus on surfaces. “Gaseous ozone is generated from oxygen gas by electrical discharge,” said the head of the study Dr.

More Israelis died in January 2021 than in any month for the past 20 years, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics published on Wednesday. A total of 5,233 Israelis died this past January, of whom 1,459 died of the coronavirus, the highest death toll in one month since the start of the pandemic. A total of 26.6% of all coronavirus fatalities (which reached 5,473 on Thursday) since the start of the pandemic was confirmed in January. January 24 was the deadliest day, with 79 virus deaths in one day. On the other hand, the number of non-coronavirus deaths in January was 3,774, one of the lowest numbers in 20 years, an apparent result of the lockdown and health regulations such as social distancing and wearing masks, which drastically reduced illnesses such as the flu.

At least 164 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in Israel contracted the coronavirus after refusing the vaccine, Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday. A total of 66 medical professionals at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan contracted the virus, 18 at both Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem and Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Haifa, 17 at the Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod, and 13 at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. The report stated that only 70-90% of medical professionals in Israel were vaccinated, with doctors more likely than nurses to take the jab. The government is pushing legislation to make vaccination mandatory for medical workers and other workers who come into contact with the public.

US doctors nationwide have been seeing a sharp increase in the number of patients with pediatric post-COVID syndrome, called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children or MIS-C, The New York Times reported this week. There are not only more cases overall but more children are becoming seriously ill, doctors say. “We’re now getting more of these MIS-C kids, but this time, it just seems that a higher percentage of them are really critically ill,” said Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Dr. DeBiasi said that 80-90% of the children require treatment in the ICU versus only about 50% during the hospital’s first wave. According to the report, the reasons for the increase are not clear.

A 30-year-old Israeli father of two with no underlying health conditions passed away of COVID-19 on Tuesday night. The niftar, Lior Mevorach, z’l, was a resident of Lod in central Israel. “Our hearts are breaking!” wrote Lod Mayor Yair Revivo. “Lior Mevorach, z’l, of Lod, a 30-year-old man of great talent, succumbed tonight to the cruel coronavirus.” “My consolations to Liat, his heroic wife, and their two small daughters who were left orphans.” “I plead with you, adhere to regulations and go get vaccinated!” the mayor pleaded. “The new variant targets young people and directly attacks the lungs.” Yehi Zichro Baruch. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Israeli HMO Maccabi Healthcare Services announced on Wednesday that the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective, precisely the rate reported by Pfizer in its clinical trials. Maccabi stated that out of a trial group of 602,000 people who were vaccinated, only 608 contracted the coronavirus, equivalent to one in a thousand. In contrast, out of a control group of 528,000 Israelis with similar backgrounds who weren’t vaccinated, 20,621 contracted the virus. Maccabi doctors believe that even those vaccinated who did contract the virus were less seriously ill due to the vaccine, with the majority reporting only mild symptoms. Some, 21 were hospitalized, 11 with mild symptoms, three with moderate symptoms, and seven with severe symptoms. None died from the virus.

Public indignation over secret coronavirus vaccinations for the wealthy and well-connected in Peru grew Wednesday, a day after the Vatican’s ambassador to the South American nation admitted he was inoculated ahead of health care workers and the poor. The surreptitious vaccination of nearly 500 people, including a then-president, his wife and brother, has roused anger over inequality in a country that has been badly battered by the pandemic, which has taken the lives of at least 310 doctors.

Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths, health officials are reporting. Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black Americans losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years, according to preliminary estimates Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “This is a huge decline,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees the numbers for the CDC. “You have to go back to World War II, the 1940s, to find a decline like this.” Other health experts say it shows the profound impact of COVID-19, not just on deaths directly due to infection but also from heart disease, cancer and other conditions.