pandemic

Health care workers take test samples from a caregiver a at Migdal Nofim retirement home in Jerusalem, July 27, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

July 29, 2021, 2:15 am

Study: 20% of vaccinated health workers who test positive suffer from long COVID

Majority of 39 ‘breakthrough’ cases among 1,497 monitored were mild, but research author says persistence of symptoms among minority ‘raises concern’

By Nathan Jeffay

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz attend a press conference at a Maccabi vaccination center in Holon on June 29, 2021. (Marc Israel Sellem/ Pool via Flash90)

July 26, 2021, 10:58 am

‘They’re endangering us’: Why Bennett is suddenly locking horns with non-vaxxers

PM hasn’t said what prompted him to up the ante, but an influential expert panel is convinced that inoculating half of those still unvaccinated will stop the rise in cases

By Nathan Jeffay

Health care workers on duty taking swabs for coronavirus tests in Jerusalem, July 22, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 25, 2021, 4:51 pm

HMO: Early vaccinees are twice as likely to catch COVID as later recipients

Latest research ‘definitely’ reinforces argument for giving boosters to the elderly, says lab chief at Leumit

By Nathan Jeffay

An Israeli receives coronavirus vaccine in Petah Tikva, on June 6, 2021. (Flash90)

July 22, 2021, 11:51 pm

Israeli, UK data offer mixed signals on vaccine’s potency against Delta strain

Local research claims Pfizer shot now only 41% effective against symptomatic COVID, while British stats have it at 88%

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: A pill is held in a hand (Rosifan19; iStock by Getty Images)

July 22, 2021, 10:53 pm

Israeli COVID vaccine in pill form to start clinical trial in Tel Aviv

As world talks of possible boosters, and with poorer countries struggling to get shots in arms, developer claims pill could be ‘game-changer’ by simplifying logistics

By Nathan Jeffay

A technician collects a swab sample for COVID-19, at a testing center in Tel Aviv (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

July 21, 2021, 10:58 pm

Israeli study claims major drop in vaccine protection; experts don’t believe it

Report says protection against serious COVID-19 illness fell to 80%, or 50% for over-60s; government adviser, physician and health statistics expert all criticize research

By Nathan Jeffay

SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. (NIAID-RML via AP)

July 20, 2021, 12:59 pm

3 existing drugs fight coronavirus with ‘almost 100%’ success in Jerusalem lab

If medicines pass clinical test for COVID, they’re also likely to prove effective for new variants, scientists say, as they target proteins that barely change between mutations

By Nathan Jeffay

A health worker prepares a vaccination against COVID-19 at a vaccination center of the Tel Aviv municipality and Magen David Adom, in Tel Aviv, July 4, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

July 19, 2021, 1:38 pm

Israeli study claims vaccines cut infection risk even in COVID-afflicted homes

Research was conducted before Delta variant, but deputy head of Sheba Medical Center, which took part in effort, calls findings ‘convincing illustration of vaccine effectiveness’

By Nathan Jeffay

Family members wearing safety gear visit a family member at the coronavirus ward of Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem on February 3, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 17, 2021, 8:51 am

Top immunologist: Douse Israel’s Delta ‘fire’ before it needs lake-full of water

Cyrille Cohen talks Delta dynamics and booster shots, raises concerns and sounds warning alarm while also suggesting variant may further immunize some people for uncertain future

By Nathan Jeffay

A man receives a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine at Sheba Medical Center outside of Tel Aviv on July 12, 2021. (Courtesy Sheba Medical Center)

July 12, 2021, 4:57 pm

In world first, COVID boosters rolled out for some at-risk Israelis

Decision to give third shot to those with weakened immune systems comes after government weighs ‘accumulating evidence’ that immunocompromised aren’t well enough protected

By Nathan Jeffay

A medic prepares a vaccine at Meuhedet COVID-19 vaccination center in Kfar Habad, central Israel, on February 16, 2021. (Flash90)

July 11, 2021, 5:11 pm

Minister says at-risk Israelis can get COVID booster; HMOs unaware of plan

Immunocompromised Israelis hear they are first in world eligible for a third COVID shot. But when they start trying to arrange appointments, they are told no such policy exists

By Nathan Jeffay

A medical worker tests an Israeli youth for coronavirus at a basketball court turned into a coronavirus testing center in Binyamina, June 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

July 5, 2021, 4:08 pm

Israel ‘underreacting’ to COVID? Or justified optimism? Hospital chiefs split

With Muslim festival and Israeli wedding season approaching and COVID cases rising, some are filled with foreboding while others relax, saying vaccines doing their job

By Nathan Jeffay

Emma Goldberg, in her book 'Life on the Line,' followed six new doctors in New York City hospitals as they treated COVID patients. (Author photo by Brittainy Newman; book courtesy of Harper/ via JTA)

July 2, 2021, 3:25 am

A journalist followed 6 rookie doctors in NYC as they came of age during COVID

27-year-old Emma Goldberg’s book ‘Life on the Line’ offers a look at how newly-minted physicians began their careers in the heart of a global, and frighteningly local, pandemic

By Lori Silberman Brauner

An Israeli teen receives a coronavirus vaccination in Jerusalem on June 24, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 1, 2021, 11:11 pm

Curbing Delta’s force, vaccines keep Israel’s hospitals calm and avert lockdown

‘If we weren’t so well-vaccinated, lockdown would be looming,’ says top government adviser; doctors breathe sigh of relief, but worries linger about ‘weak spot’ in COVID fight

By Nathan Jeffay

Travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport, on June 30, 2021, heading for COVID-19 tests. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

June 30, 2021, 11:30 pm

Amid eyebrow-raising gov’t decisions, an advanced airport COVID lab stands idle

Instead of using new facilities, authorities inexplicably sending passenger samples far off-site for analysis amid delays; ‘It’s the craziest thing,’ says senior doctor

By Nathan Jeffay