His message was meant for his fellow Israelis, but it is a warning to the world. Israel has among the world’s highest levels of vaccination for COVID-19, with 78% of those 12 and older fully vaccinated, the vast majority with the Pfizer vaccine. Yet the country is now logging one of the world’s highest infection rates, with nearly 650 new cases daily per million people. More than half are in fully vaccinated people, underscoring the extraordinary transmissibility of the Delta variant and stoking concerns that the benefits of vaccination ebb over time.
What is clear is that “breakthrough” cases are not the rare events the term implies. As of 15 August, 514 Israelis were hospitalized with severe or critical COVID-19, a 31% increase from just 4 days earlier. Of the 514, 59% were fully vaccinated. Of the vaccinated, 87% were 60 or older. “There are so many breakthrough infections that they dominate and most of the hospitalized patients are actually vaccinated,” says Uri Shalit, a bioinformatician at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) who has consulted on COVID-19 for the government. “One of the big stories from Israel [is]: ‘Vaccines work, but not well enough.’”
Aran’s message for the United States and other wealthier nations considering boosters is stark: “Do not think that the boosters are the solution.” Source: Science Magazine
To understand what is taking place, one of the founders of mRNA, Dr. Malone said this today on Twitter.
To understand what is a “LEAKY” vaccine, and its implications, this is a PBS article that describes what took place with a “leaky” vaccine in 2015.
In the event, the article is taken down from PBS, this is a copy of the article in a PDF format.
For a more in-depth study, you can read this article, “Imperfect Vaccination Can Enhance the Transmission of Highly Virulent Pathogens“.
In the event, that the article from National Center for Biotechnology information is taken down, you can read a PDF version of Imperfect Vaccination Can Enhance the Transmission of Highly Virulent Pathogens.