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Battling COVID: Weekly Update

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

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An Israeli nurse seen during a simulated vaccination against the COVID-19 virus, at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Start of Israel’s vaccine drive moved up to December 23, HMOs told

Medical personnel to begin receiving inoculations on Sunday; TV says Israel currently has 313,000 doses from Pfizer, with 3.8 million expected by end of the month

Screen capture from video of a meeting between health officials and lead ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the city of Bnei Brak aimed at encouraging coronavirus vaccination in the local community. (YouTube)

Health Ministry fails to sway ultra-Orthodox rabbis to back vaccination drive

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Health care workers test Israelis for coronavirus at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on December 10, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Task force says effect of vaccine on pandemic won’t be felt until end of winter

The entrance to Shoo Shoo Nolita, an Israeli-owned restaurant in New York City, December 13, 2020. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Israeli restaurateurs in New York confident they will survive a bleak winter

93% of Israeli restaurant owners in city say their establishments will outlast pandemic, after indoor dining banned again and officials weigh new shutdown

An Israeli nurse seen during a simulated vaccination against the COVID-19 virus, at Sheba Medical Center, central Israel, December 10, 2020. (Miriam Alster/ FLASH90)

PM aims to be 1st Israeli vaccinated, maybe 1st world leader

Vaccinated Israelis will get ‘green passports’ waiving lockdown constraints

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Document showing holder has been inoculated against coronavirus will enable skipping quarantine, access to cultural events and restaurants; may become necessary for travel abroad

An Israeli nurse shows the media a simulated vaccination as part of the hospital's preparation for the coronavirus vaccinations, at the Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, December 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israel said considering restrictions on those who refuse COVID vaccine

Screen capture from video showing crowding at Ben Gurion Airport, December 13, 2020. (Channel 12 news)

Government to crack down on violations of distancing rules at airport

This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 particle isolated from a patient, in a laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Coronaviruses, including the newest one, are named for the spikes that cover their outer surface like a crown, or corona in Latin. Using those club-shaped spikes, the virus latches on to the outer wall of a human cell, invades it and replicates, creating viruses to hijack more cells. (NIAID/NIH via AP)

‘Long COVID’ may be caused by body attacking itself, not the virus – study

In study not yet peer-reviewed, Yale researchers find that coronavirus patients had high levels of autoantibodies that targeted organs and tissue instead of latching onto virus

Analysis

A great miracle happened in Kalamazoo

Developing a vaccine in under a year that would usually take years to engineer is an astonishment, and its message is: Respect the science

Illustrative: Workers prepare a body before a funeral ceremony at a morgue for coronavirus victims, in Holon, on October 28, 2020. (Flash90)

Israel passes grim milestone of 3,000 coronavirus deaths since start of pandemic

Number of quarantined medical workers doubles in a week, reaches highest level in 2 months; taskforce says restrictions will likely be reimposed by end of month

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference at the Ministry of Health in Jerusalem on December 9, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu enters quarantine for 3rd time; set to be 1st to vaccinate Sat. night

Likud MK David Bitan at a committee in the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 31, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Condition of Likud MK Bitan, hospitalized with COVID-19, deteriorates to serious

A technician collects a swab sample from a woman at the coronavirus lab at Ben Gurion on December 14, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israel records more than 2,200 daily cases as it barrels toward new restrictions

Virus czar says government ‘trying to prevent a full lockdown,’ after Monday sees highest number of new confirmed carriers in 2 months

An Israeli nurse seen during a simulated vaccination against the COVID-19 virus, at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

After FDA approval, virus czar urges all Israelis to get COVID vaccine

Sheba Medical Center nurse Hala Litwin injects a dose into Israel's first human test subject, Segev Harel, as part of trials for Israel's experimental coronavirus vaccine, BriLife, on November 1, 2020. (Defense Ministry)

Israeli vaccine clears first stage as no major side effects reported

By Judah Ari Gross

Palestinian Authority Health Minister Mai al-Kaila briefs reporters in Ramallah on Wednesday, December 10, 2020 (Screenshot: Palestine TV)

Palestinians expect first vaccines only between January and March

By Aaron Boxerman

PA health minister says Pfizer’s shot is off the table for Palestinians due to cumbersome storage requirements, will mostly rely on UN to supply immunizations

Health care workers take coronavirus test samples at a testing center, in Rishon Lezion on December 8, 2020. (Flash90)

Israel reduces quarantine to 10 days, with 2 virus tests

Analysis

In this crisis, a golden chance to reimagine education

The success of a handful of teachers and students during the pandemic points the way forward to schooling that aligns with tomorrow’s needs

UV disinfection being used to clean a laboratory (LeafenLin via iStock by Getty Images)

Cheaper LEDs can disinfect against COVID-19, Israeli scientists find

By Nathan Jeffay

Tel Aviv University team behind discovery is working on self-cleaning surfaces, including laptop keyboard that kill germs with ultraviolet light every time lid is closed

Illustrative: Sandra Lindsay (L), a nurse, is inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine by Dr. Michelle Chester, at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, on December 14, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York. (Mark Lennihan/Pool/AFP)

Nurse at New York Jewish hospital receives first COVID vaccine in US

By AFP

Shoppers pass under the Christmas lights on Regents Street in central London on December 14, 2020. (Tolga Akmen/AFP)

London set for tighter virus curbs as new variant emerges in England

Analysis

Jennifer Raskas

From chaos to light

Usually, we light Hanukkah candles as long as people are out and about, but this year, with people isolated at home, we needed a new way to share our light with others

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