
The 2020-2021 winter has seen zero cases of flu, after Israel ordered four million doses of flu vaccine.
According to Israel Hayom, the health funds are now tossing 1.5 million doses of flu vaccine, after no one requested them.
The interest in flu vaccines dropped when the coronavirus vaccines arrived in Israel, and due to the lack of cases. However, a relatively high percentage - 25.6% - of Israelis received this year's flu vaccine. Last year, 24.6% of Israelis received the flu vaccine, compared to 18% and 19% during the previous two years.
Israel's Health Ministry prepared for the winter, during which there were expected to be simultaneous outbreaks of both flu and coronavirus. However, data from the Israel Center for Disease Control showed that not a single lab test was positive for flu this year.
Throughout the winter, the number of people turning to clinics, emergency rooms, and children's wards due to flu-like winter illnesses was low. For example, the number of people turning to clinics because of flu-like illnesses was close to zero; in the past few years, it ranged from 15-20 per 10,000 people during the same period.
"The numbers of respiratory infections are low," the Health Ministry stated. "We have not yet identified flu activity among the Israeli populace."