Israel has started vaccinations against CORONA. The country is starting by inoculating Health professionals, and then proceeding to people who are at higher risk. Higher risk means those over 65 years old or with significant prior conditions that might make them more vulnerable. Old age homes are of higher priority for both residents and staff. Most of the actual shots are being given at the clinics of the various health insurance companies. The government arranged for delivery of the vaccine, and also made storage facilities available. The first batch came from Pfizer, delivered by a charted airplane. Since the vaccine must be stored at extremely low temperatures, mobile freezer units capable of maintaining that temperature were concentrated at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. From there trailer trucks took the material in insulated boxes filled with “dry ice” to the clinics and hospitals that had been prepared in advance. Each vial of vaccine contains enough serum for up to 6 inoculations. After the first shot there is a waiting period of a few weeks and then a second dose will be given.
Israel ordered large amounts of vaccine from all the laboratories preparing it. The total amount ordered probably actually exceeds the population. If that is true, the surplus will be made available to other countries. As of the time I’m writing this my wife and I are scheduled to be immunized in 2 days. We are part of the older people who have a priority, but we also live some distance from the the locations where the first vaccinations were being given. As more vaccine arrived in the country more inoculation centers were opened. There was some concern initially that many individuals would decline immunization. In practice, this has definitely not been the case. The entire process appears to be moving smoothly and rapidly. In fact, the local news last night reported that Israel is currently the world leader in percentage of vaccinated citizens per capita.
Despite the promise that we will soon be vaccinated, the entire country has just entered another “lockdown” period in order to help stop the spread of the virus. There have been no sporting events or concerts with large numbers of people in attendance. Shopping malls and even small businesses have been closed. Only essential services are remaining open. Even the supermarkets are operating solely by using delivery services. Telephone and on-line computer orders are the standard of the day. The economic impact of all the closures (the current one is the third of the year) have taken a serious toll of small independent shops. Many have already been forced to close down permanently, and many more will probably also follow. Unemployment, including people who are on unpaid vacation while waiting for their places to reopen, is still a major social problem. There are some longer term effects that will take years to be resolved, like the increased rate of cigarette usage.
Even after inoculation things won’t return to “normal” immediately. It takes a lot of time to administer shots to millions of people. Add to that the time delay between the two doses and an extra week to allow your body to develop the antibody response needed to ensure the virus cannot develop. Total recovery is sure to take a long time. Even then, there are already over 3200 victims for whom neither vaccine nor new treatments will help. In Israel there are still over 150 hospitalized patients attached to mechanical devices to help them breathe. So it seems that wearing masks, washing hands, and social distancing are going to be with us for quite a while longer.
Wetherhorn 