Dr. Orly Greenfeld, the medical director of Magen Yisrael, clarifies that in order to reap the lockdown’s full benefits, it must persist for at least another week.
"If we have to end the lockdown this weekend,we expect there to be no decrease in the spread of infection. Without another week at least, the rate of infection will remain unchanged.” Greenfeld explains In an interview with Arutz Sheva.
“If we continue the lockdown for another week, continue vaccination until at least eighty-five percent of the at-risk population is vaccinated, and strictly adhere to the current safety measures, we can realistically avoid another lockdown. We are seeing at least some moderation in the rate of infection. The situation is still fairly serious, but we have been stabilizing at nine thousand new cases a day.”
"There is a degree of optimism here because we see that the infection rate is also declining. We expect both the rate of fatalities and new cases to decline in the coming days and weeks, as long as everyone continues to follow the established guidelines.”
Dr. Greenfeld also addressed the effect of vaccines on new infections, especially cases where those who received the first dose or even two doses of vaccine later became infected. Two weeks after receiving the first dose, the effectiveness rate is 60% when there is a 40% chance of coming down with the virus. The second vaccination is critical, and a week after receiving it, it is ninety-five percent effective.”
"It is unsurprising that people have gotten sick after the first dose, or even the second dose, although after the second dose the percentages are minimal. We are seeing encouraging data in the older population, with marked decline in the critically sick patients. Most of the population has yet to receive the second vaccine, but they indicate that there will definitely be a decrease in new infections in the at-risk population.”
When asked if the vaccines hold up against different mutations, she answered, "There are always new mutations. In the meantime, what we know about the mutations is that they are more contagious but do not cause more serious illness. Patients are more likely to become infected, but not more seriously so.”
"The vaccines are tested to check their effectiveness against different mutations. From the tests that the companies do, we see that these vaccines are likely to be effective against mutated forms as well. Even if they protect by less than the 95% as they do now, it still impacts the disease and infection. ".
Greenfield believes that Israel will be back to routine by summer. "If we follow the current restrictions, we can almost return to normal by summertime. It won’t be like last summer, or the summer before - we will need masks and to take certain safety steps, but we can go about our business as usual.”