Nathan Jeffay

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

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

April 8, 2021, 10:38 pm

Israel’s secrecy on vaccines is causing supply uncertainty, says state adviser

Culture of caginess is delaying deal for kids’ vaccines and hampering health community’s preparedness for administering them, claims Nadav Davidovitch

By Nathan Jeffay

A COVID-19 vaccination center in Jerusalem, on March 11, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

April 5, 2021, 4:21 pm

Vaccines shown to protect even those who don’t get them — Israeli study

Just as doctors hoped, COVID shots aren’t just helping the inoculated, but also providing ‘cross-protection’ to the rest, new research finds

By Nathan Jeffay

A Clalit vaccination center in Jerusalem, on February 25, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

April 1, 2021, 8:49 am

Vaccination stagnation: Only about 6,000 Israelis a day now getting first shots

At its height in February, national drive saw over 80,000 getting first vaccine shot per day; healthcare providers are now calling people at home, ‘being proactive, reassuring’

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: A girl takes a COVID-19 test. (ChiccoDodiFC via iStock)

March 31, 2021, 12:59 pm

Super-speedy Israeli COVID test gets European approval; airport rollout planned

SpectraLIT eliminates the need for complex lab equipment by giving relatively accurate results after just 20 seconds of analysis, possibly aiding resumption of international travel

By Nathan Jeffay

United Hatzalah medical workers test a patient for COVID-19 in Jerusalem on February 10, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

March 31, 2021, 11:26 am

COVID reinfection hits 1 in a 1,000, variants may fuel it, Israeli study finds

Largest study in world followed about a fifth of COVID-positive Israelis after recovery, and found 154 got reinfected, indicating immunity is high but far from absolute

By Nathan Jeffay

Shaare Zedek hospital team members wearing safety gear as they work in the coronavirus ward in Jerusalem on January 19, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

March 30, 2021, 3:40 pm

Israeli COVID variant found, has infected hundreds, doesn’t challenge vaccines

Local variant has spread across a large stretch of country, but is thought unlikely to affect vaccine effectiveness or make virus more contagious or dangerous

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: Pills. Israel's Oramed Pharmaceuticals and India-based Premas Biotech are working on a vaccine pill to inoculate against COVID-19 (schlosann via iStock by Getty Images)

March 25, 2021, 3:13 pm

Israeli-made oral COVID vaccine found to generate antibodies in pigs

Jerusalem-based scientist expects approval for humans within 6 months, says advance could simplify vaccination drives and even allow home vaccination using pills sent by mail

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: A Magen David Adom worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Holocaust survivor Yaffa Balaban, 95, at her apartment in Beit Tovei Hair retirement residence in Jerusalem on January 26, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

March 24, 2021, 4:59 pm

Germany funds plan to help Holocaust survivors around world access vaccines

Claims Conference isn’t providing COVID shots, but will aid 190,000 survivors with booking and provide transportation with medical assistance to the housebound

By Nathan Jeffay

A patient casts a ballot from bed at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center on March 23, 2021 (courtesy of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center)

March 23, 2021, 1:20 pm

In COVID wards, patients in pajamas take long trip down the corridor to vote

Hospital voting gets underway with hazmat suits, oxygen tubes and ballots via airlocks, in stark collision of pandemic and politics

By Nathan Jeffay

A man votes during a demonstration of a drive-thru polling station, ahead of the upcoming elections, at the central elections committee warehouse in Modi'in, on February 23, 2021. (Flash90)

March 22, 2021, 4:55 pm

Socially distanced democracy: Israel votes in a pandemic

Election arrangements include 38 polling stations in COVID-19 wards, and hundreds of special stations — including drive-through facilities — for people who are sick or quarantined

By Nathan Jeffay

Gilly Regev, an Israeli-raised scientist who co-founded the company SaNOtize, uses the new nasal spray she developed (Screen grab)

March 22, 2021, 1:06 pm

‘Life-saving’ nose spray that kills 99.9% of viruses begins production in Israel

Health Ministry-approved labeling says antiviral is effective within 2 minutes; can save many lives in countries without access to vaccines, says inventor

By Nathan Jeffay

Screen capture from video of a rocket that launched three Israeli nanosatellites from Kazahkstan, March 22, 2021. (Twitter)

March 22, 2021, 12:00 pm

3 Israeli nanosatellites blast into space to test new method for rescue beacons

Trio of shoebox-sized, fuel-sipping spacecraft aim to provide emergency location services usually supplied by much larger satellites

By Nathan Jeffay and TOI staff

A mouse embryo grows in the artificial womb at the Weizmann Institute of Science (courtesy of the Weizmann Institute of Science)

March 17, 2021, 6:02 pm

In breakthrough, Israelis grow hundreds of mouse embryos in artificial wombs

Scientists say groundbreaking method could lead to human gestation outside the womb; new insight into organ formation could spur other advances; fetuses have fully formed organs

By Nathan Jeffay

A child wearing a face mask at the Kramim school in Jerusalem on November 1, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

March 17, 2021, 1:14 pm

Kids’ quarantine, every parent’s nightmare, could soon be eased, doctors predict

As vaccinations kick in, chance of children infecting elderly Israelis diminishes; MDs say this may eliminate need for mandatory isolation of entire classes

By Nathan Jeffay

A baby, born during the pandemic, with the mother (vlada_maestro via iStock by Getty Images)

March 16, 2021, 10:43 pm

Israeli study: Babies born to vaccinated moms have COVID-fighting antibodies

All 40 infants in Jerusalem research have antibodies, suggesting they are born with immunity to coronavirus, according to Hadassah doctors

By Nathan Jeffay