Professor Jonathan Halevy, President of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, spoke to Radio 103FM on Thursday and commented on the spike in new cases of COVID-19.
"I'm not that alarmed by the number of verified cases. I was part of the decision that provoked criticism, of the new government when it was established, to take more into account the number of patients in serious condition. I mainly look at the number of people who are on ventilators and ECMO machines, and it is rising very slowly," Halevy said.
Those in serious condition are divided into two main types, he said. "There are those who are unvaccinated and who have a very serious illness, and people who have who have been vaccinated and are on ventilators and are few in numbers, due to old age and severe background illnesses. To be vaccinated and seriously ill at the same time is conditioned on an old age with background illnesses."
Prof. Halevy also sought to calm the concerns regarding the third vaccine dose for those aged 60 and over. "From the moment that five months have passed since the second vaccine, the antibodies start to drop at a rate of 6 percent per month. The third vaccine dramatically increases the rate of antibodies, increases the protection against a serious illness and in my opinion also against infection."
He added that so far about 5 billion people in the world have been vaccinated in the first dose. "There are no deaths, and in my view this is one of the safest and most effective drugs ever made in history."