Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and US President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, on Wednesday cited the success of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Israel as proof of the effectiveness of the vaccine. “When you look at the amount of vaccinations per hundred people — mainly how many vaccinations were given per hundred people —Israel is way up there, with 78 doses per 100 people, compared to the United States, which is 16.7 doses per 100 people. So we have been hearing and seeing in the press that Israel has a remarkable diminution in cases associated with the efficiency of their vaccine,” Fauci said during a press briefing. “The reason I bring this out to you is that it is another example of the scientific data starting to point to the fact that vaccine is important not only for the health of the individual — to protect them against infection and disease — but it also has very important implications from a public health standpoint for interfering and diminishing the dynamics of the outbreak,” he added. “So the bottom-line message is: When your turn to get vaccinated comes up, get vaccinated. It’s not only good for you and your family and your community, it will have a very important impact on the dynamics of the outbreak in our country,” said Fauci. According to data published by the Health Ministry, as of Wednesday morning 4,075,000 Israelis had been vaccinated against COVID-19, of whom about 2,700,000 also received the second dose of the vaccine. A study by the Clalit health care provider released earlier this week found that Israel’s massive coronavirus vaccination campaign has significantly cut the rates of symptomatic COVID-19 infections among the vaccinated population. The study found that the rate of symptomatic coronavirus infections was cut by 94% among the vaccinated population. In addition, the study found that the number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients was cut by 92% among the vaccinated population.
