The Israeli Ministry of Health has announced that the virus reproduction rate has dropped below 1. Vaccination and lockdown have helped to contain the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Coronavirus: Israel. R ratio below 1
The R indicator, or the reproductive rate of the virus, shows how many people are infected with one infected. With R greater than 1, the epidemic gains momentum, and with R greater than 1 – it expires.
In mid-December, Israel’s R was 1,3. The daily numbers of new infections increased significantly. In the following days, the vaccination campaign began. On December 27, a third lockdown was announced, and it is still in effect.
On Thursday (January 21) it was reported that the reproduction rate of the virus had dropped to 0,99.
“We see a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch. – We stopped the growth of the pace of new infections, but kept it at a high level.
According to the deputy minister, both lockdown and vaccinations are responsible for the decline in the R index. Although one in four of Israel’s 9 million inhabitants has already received the vaccine, the main effect of vaccination at this stage, Kisch said, is the reduction in the number of severe cases, not necessarily the number of virus carriers.
“The reduction in the reproductive rate of the virus would have been greater were it not for the presence of a particularly contagious ‘British strain’ in the Israeli population,” added Kisch.
- See also: The expert says the British mutation may get out of control, severe restrictions needed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the vaccines will protect the most vulnerable groups in society and reopen the economy in February.
According to official data of the Israeli Ministry of Health, 2,27 million inhabitants of this country received the first dose of the vaccine, and both doses – approx. 550 thousand. people. The percentage of vaccinated (at least one dose) by age group is as follows:
- 77 percent – people 60+,
- 51 percent – citizens aged 50-59,
- 30 percent – Israelis between 40 and 49 years of age,
- 16 percent – people in the range of 30–39 years.
According to the Israeli media, the Ministry of Health is working on issuing a recommendation that young people aged 16-18 should be immunized. This would allow for the safe conduct of secondary school-leaving examinations in spring. Another reason for vaccination of younger groups are reports that new SARS-CoV-2 mutations are more easily spread among children and adolescents.
Author: Tomasz Kobosz / Medexpress
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