Israel’s public health chief announced Monday that, with the coronavirus outbreak easing, the Health Ministry is set to reduce restrictions on gatherings, as of this coming Sunday, but concerns remain surrounding new variants entering the country that could prove impervious to the effects of the vaccine.
Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis told reporters in a briefing that “the virus is diminishing. We are on a decline since [the] Purim [holiday], with more than five million vaccinated in Israel with the first dose.”
She also noted that businesses and other venues will have access to rapid virus tests starting Sunday, which will enable them to admit more unvaccinated people.
“The issue that scares us the most is the entry of variants,” she told reporters in the briefing. “The British strain rules here with 90 percent [of the cases], but the vaccine is effective against it. We also have the South African strain, which constitutes 1% [of cases], and against which the vaccine is less effective. We’re afraid that additional strains that are unaffected by the vaccine will enter.”
Alroy-Preis said that Ben Gurion Airport is the greatest concern.
At the same time, crediting Israel’s successful vaccination campaign, she said that the virus is “constantly diminishing” and noted that only 15% of Israeli locales are considered either “red” or “orange” in the country’s color-coded scheme for determining the severity of a local outbreak.
