pandemic

People in Jerusalem wear face masks on January 21, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

After more than 2 years of COVID, we still can’t recognize the face behind the mask

‘Zero improvement’ in human ability to identify masked faces, researchers from Israel and Canada say in peer-reviewed study

A family prays during an outdoor Yom Kippur service at Sinai Temple during the coronavirus pandemic, undated. (Getty Images via Al Seib/JTA)

September 24, 2022, 11:11 pm

As holiday season arrives and COVID fears ebb, US synagogues try for a new normal

With virus deaths falling globally, community-wide guidelines make way for a patchwork approach as the Jewish world prepares for 3rd High Holidays under pandemic concerns

By Jackie Hajdenberg

September 23, 2022, 10:26 am

After more than 2 years of COVID, we still can’t recognize the face behind the mask

‘Zero improvement’ in human ability to identify masked faces, researchers from Israel and Canada say in peer-reviewed study

By Nathan Jeffay

A child receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Jerusalem, December 16, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

September 21, 2022, 10:01 pm

Half of Israeli parents who planned to vaccinate kids for COVID didn’t bother: study

New research explains why only a fifth of 5-to-11-year-olds got vaccines, concluding that the moment parents glimpsed normality, ‘incentives disappeared’

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: a man receives his fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at a Clallit vaccine center in Jerusalem on January 3, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

September 20, 2022, 11:24 am

Clinics to begin rollout of variant-tailored COVID shots this week

Elderly and at-risk to be given priority; unclear whether vaccines will immediately be available to all, with lethargic response expected from public

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: an Israeli woman receives a coronavirus vaccine at the Hadassah Medical Center, in Jerusalem, on January 6, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

September 15, 2022, 6:46 am

Israelis to start getting new variant-tailored shots by end of month — COVID czar

Second-generation vaccines being distributed to healthcare providers, as scientific community waits expectantly to see how much they help

By Nathan Jeffay

An Israeli man receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at Maccabi vaccination center in Modi'in, on January 6, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

September 8, 2022, 11:28 am

Israeli study: Vaccines slash long COVID cases, with 80% drop in shortness of breath

Peer-reviewed finding is ‘the cherry on top’ for vaccines, which have already been shown to reduce infection and lower seriousness of illness, says researcher

By Nathan Jeffay

People, some with face masks, shop for groceries at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on July 7, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

September 3, 2022, 4:20 pm

Serious COVID cases fall under 100 for first time since June

Number of active infections briefly drops below 10,000 before rising slightly again; transmission rate remains below 1, signaling pandemic is not expanding

By TOI staff

Illustrative image: a doctor in Afghanistan fills a syringe with a vaccine donated by the COVAX program on Sunday, July 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

August 30, 2022, 6:59 am

Israeli study: Western powers can protect own people by donating COVID shots abroad

Game theory analysis finds big, vaccine-rich countries could protect citizens’ lives more effectively by dispatching spare doses to developing countries than by stockpiling them

By Nathan Jeffay

Doses of the anti-viral drug Paxlovid are displayed in New York, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. Aug 24, 2022. (AP/Stephanie Nano)

August 25, 2022, 4:05 am

Israeli study shows Pfizer COVID pill of no benefit in younger adults

Results from 109,000-patient study show drug still reduces risk of hospitalization, death for high-risk seniors, raises questions on use in US, where it is a go-to treatment

By MATTHEW PERRONE

In this May 14, 2022, file photo, Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen, center, takes the stage after winning the party's endorsement for governor, at the Minnesota State Republican Convention in Rochester, Minn. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, file)

August 25, 2022, 3:17 am

GOP nominee for Minn. governor: ‘Legitimate’ to compare COVID policies to Holocaust

Scott Jensen, a former state senator, doubles down on parallels between ‘what happened in the 1930s’ and pandemic-related ‘government policies intruding on American freedoms’

By Andrew Lapin

Officials prepare a polling station for COVID-19 patents at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for the March 2021 election (courtesy of Rambam Medical Center)

August 12, 2022, 3:21 pm

Poll: Chaos aside, majority of Israelis think political system handled pandemic well

Pew survey also shows many Israelis think COVID crisis left the country more divided — though results lower than in many other nations

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: An El Al plane lands at Ben Gurion Airport, on October 13, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

August 11, 2022, 12:49 pm

El Al shows signs of post-pandemic recovery, reports $516 million in revenue

Airline enjoys uninterrupted activity thanks to open skies, sees a significant financial improvement — the result of increased demand, higher prices and a $117 million tax break

By Tobias Siegal

Illustrative image: An Israeli soldier conducts a COVID-19 antibody test on a boy in Hadera, Israel, Monday, August 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

July 29, 2022, 1:33 pm

Can you judge your COVID immunity with an antibody test? Israeli research says yes

Team says such tests could be used as a screening tool for the allocation of the first batches of updated vaccines, once these arrive

By Nathan Jeffay

This file photo taken on January 11, 2020 shows members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leaving the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei, Province (NOEL CELIS / AFP)

July 27, 2022, 2:00 pm

2 new studies agree COVID pandemic likely originated naturally from Wuhan market

Study co-author had previously called on scientific community to be more open to idea that coronavirus may have leaked from lab, but says now convinced otherwise

By Issam Ahmed

Italian Premier Mario Draghi waves to lawmakers at the end of his address at the Parliament in Rome, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

July 21, 2022, 1:07 pm

Italian Premier Draghi resigns amid political turmoil, collapsed government

Draghi’s unity government imploded Wednesday as members of his uneasy coalition rebuffed his appeal to ensure implementation of the European Union-funded pandemic recovery program

By Nicole Winfield