Lessons For Australia – Israel Cases Surging Despite Vaccination Rate

By June, Israel had vaccinated almost 80% of people 12 and over. They lifted nearly all COVID-19 restrictions with cases close to 0. However, daily cases have been climbing since late June, reaching a record high earlier this month at 16,011, with more people being hospitalised. Why has this happened, and what can Australia learn?

With high vaccination rates, Israel lifted nearly all restrictions whist the Delta variant arrived in the nation. According to infectious diseases expert Professor Lewin, “even at 80 per cent, you need to have some public health measures in place to contain transmission.” There are also groups that remain unvaccinated, including some ultra-orthodox Jewish communities, in which the virus can spread more easily. 25% of Israel’s population is also under the age of 12, such that only 68% of the total population is vaccinated – too low for herd immunity. Australia needs to consider similar problems in our own country as we look to opening up.

However, this is not all bad news. From Israel’s data, we can see that the vaccine is still more than 90% effective at preventing severe disease in those under 50, and 85% effective in those over 50. The relative number of deaths from COVID-19 in Israel is also much lower than it was during the second wave, showing that the vaccines are reducing deaths.