Nathan Jeffay

Nathan Jeffay is The Times of Israel's health and science correspondent

A member of the medical staff and a patient on the coronavirus ward of Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot on January 18, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

January 21, 2022, 11:16 am

Two months since Omicron emerged, where does Israel stand? Q&A with an expert

Did the travel ban help? Why aren’t vaccines working the same as with previous variants? Why don’t antibody counts tell us if we’re protected? Immunologist Dr. Yariv Wine answers

By Nathan Jeffay

A child receives a COVID-19 vaccine, at Clalit vaccination center in Katzrin, Golan Heights, on December 16, 2021. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

January 20, 2022, 6:17 am

Vaccinated kids half as likely to get Omicron, but protection fades fast — study

Health Ministry-led research also shows teens who got their shots over four months ago only slightly better off than unvaccinated; hospitalizations among kids reportedly on rise

By Nathan Jeffay

Staff at Hadassah Medical Center on January 18, 2021 (courtesy of Hadassah Medical Center)

January 19, 2022, 5:02 pm

COVID so rampant that 1 in 10 medical staff at Jerusalem’s Hadassah are home sick

‘It’s not bringing down the hospital to point we can’t function but it does make it very hard,’ says director-general; nationally 7,716 health employees in isolation

By Nathan Jeffay

An elderly Israeli man receives a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose in Ashkelon on January 3, 2022. (Flash90)

January 18, 2022, 11:40 am

Israeli study on 4th shots for COVID is bad news — but not as bad as it seems

Research dashes hopes that new boosters will deliver Omicron-proof protection, but they may still help the elderly and at-risk by reducing chances of serious illness

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: A ketogenic food diet (iStock via Getty Images)

January 17, 2022, 3:45 pm

High-fat diet may restore cognitive function lost in brain injury – Israeli study

More than half of the lost cognitive ability returns after mice are given ketogenic diet for two months, Tel Aviv University scientists report in peer-reviewed research

By Nathan Jeffay

As part of the global race to vaccinate against COVID-19, a medical worker at South Tangerang Regional General Hospital in Tangerang, Indonesia, holds a vaccine vial the she is using to administer third doses on, Jan. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

January 15, 2022, 6:36 pm

WHO spurns boosters. That’s not the blow it may seem to be for jab-friendly Israel

Strategy based on repeated boosters ‘unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable’ warns global body. But data shows it is working for people in Israel, which led on 3rd and 4th shots

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: a baby receives a routine vaccine (naumoid via iStock by Getty Images)

January 12, 2022, 5:18 pm

COVID vaccine for Israeli babies, toddlers expected by April, says health official

Would mean all Israelis over six months eligible for vaccines; shot is waiting on Pfizer trial, which has already indicated it is safe for under-5s

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: A nurse with a child coronavirus patient (Visivasnc via iStock by Getty Images)

January 12, 2022, 6:48 am

1st kids’ Omicron ward opens with classes, clowns, and doctors bracing for ‘war’

Beds likely to fill up within 2 weeks, says Sheba hospital ward director; pleads with parents not to be flippant about variant; says even if illness is mild, long COVID is concern

By Nathan Jeffay

A member of Hadassah Medical Center's staff cares for a coronavirus patient on December 27, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 11, 2022, 6:36 am

View from a COVID ward: With Omicron, even the sickest patients are breathing easier

At Hadassah Hospital, Prof Zvi Fridlender describes a race for more beds as cases grow, alongside relief new variant isn’t leaving patients gasping for air as its predecessors did

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: a patient battling influenza, placing a cold compress on his head. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

January 10, 2022, 6:23 am

As Omicron cases soar, Israel also faces ‘flu storm’ intensified by vaccine lethargy

Together, the two diseases could put ‘major burden’ on medical system and cost lives, warns Hadassah Hospital doctor, though Ichilov chief thinks Israel can take them in stride

By Nathan Jeffay

Prof. Ronni Gamzu in September 2020, when he was coronavirus czar. (David Cohen/FLASH90)

January 4, 2022, 10:27 am

Omicron will give Israel herd immunity without swamping ICUs, says former COVID czar

Ronni Gamzu predicts mass infections but fewer intensive care cases than during Delta wave, slams travel restrictions, says 4th shot is as logical as ‘1+1=2’

By Nathan Jeffay

A child gets tested for COVID-19, in Modi'in, on December 26, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

December 30, 2021, 11:16 am

What a herd immunity policy would look like, and why it may be premature for Israel

So-called Swedish model, reportedly being mulled by Israeli health officials, could be far less risky with vaccines and Omicron, but data is still lacking, says top epidemiologist

By Nathan Jeffay

Gathering the carcasses of wild cranes killed by avian flu at the Hula Lake Nature Reserve in northern Israel, December 27. (Hadas Kahaner, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

December 29, 2021, 9:09 pm

Avian flu killing birds in Israel could jump to humans, warns epidemiologist

Prof. Amnon Lahad calls prospect of virus crossing species ‘very concerning,’ as Health Ministry advises Israelis to avoid sick birds and not to buy unregulated chicken, eggs

By Nathan Jeffay

A woman with cancer receives a coronavirus vaccine (Hector Pertuz via iStock by Getty Images)

December 29, 2021, 6:41 am

Vaccine effect fades faster for cancer patients; boosters restore it – Israeli study

Author says research, published in The Lancet, supports the case for regular boosters for cancer patients, including 3rd shots in many countries and planned 4th shots in Israel

By Nathan Jeffay

Health care workers take test samples of Israelis in a drive through complex to check if they have been infected with COVID-19, in Modi'in, on December 26, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

December 27, 2021, 11:25 am

1-2 weeks until Omicron dominant in Israel, with ‘rampant’ quarantine – expert

1% of the population, including the PM, already in isolation, and that number will grow ‘very dramatically,’ says panel head Prof. Nadav Katz, predicting disruption in schools

By Nathan Jeffay