Vaccination Rate 50% Israel: "90% of New Cases Are UK-Origin Variants"
On the 21st (local time), residents visiting a swimming pool and gym in Tel Aviv, Israel, presented so-called "Green Cards" verifying their COVID-19 vaccination status to gain entry. Israel reopened commercial and public facilities that had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting on this day, and allowed vaccinated individuals and those who tested negative to attend cultural and sports events, marking the beginning of a full return to normal life.
In Israel, where the COVID-19 vaccination rate is approaching 50%, health authorities recently announced that 90% of new confirmed cases are due to the variant virus originating from the United Kingdom.
According to local media Haaretz on the 22nd (local time), Professor Nahman Ash, Israel's COVID-19 response chief, stated during a briefing for Ministry of Health officials the previous day, "90% of daily new COVID-19 infections are the result of the UK variant."
He added, "The coronavirus has not yet passed us by," and "Although the number of confirmed cases is on a declining trend, it remains at a high level."
Recently, Israel's new confirmed cases have sharply dropped to around 3,000, which is about one-third of the 10,000 cases at the peak of the third wave in mid-last month.
However, infections and severe cases caused by the UK variant continue, especially among younger age groups with relatively lower vaccination rates.
According to Our World in Data, a statistics site operated by Oxford University, the current proportion of new confirmed cases in Israel by age group is highest among those aged 1?19, followed by 20?29, 40?59, 80 and above, and 60?79.
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Since starting vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 19 last year, Israel has completed the first dose for approximately 4.36 million people, about 47% of the total population (9.3 million). Those who have completed the second dose number around 2.99 million, about 32%.
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