Israel: Vaccinated kids half as likely to get Omicron than unvaccinated ones

As the cases continue to rise in Israel, a new study has shown that the children who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 get infected with Omicron strain at less than half the rate of kids who have not received the vaccine, reported The Times of Israel. For the study, the researchers involved children aged 5 to 11 years and found that the vaccines offered strong protection to kids against the COVID-19 variants.

The vaccines offered strong protection to children against Coronavirus variants, particularly in the first few months of getting inoculated. In the study led by the Israel Health Ministry, the researchers found that between December 25 and January 16, more than 260 out of every 100,000 unvaccinated children in the age group of 5 to 11 years got infected with COVID-19 a day on average, as per The Times of Israel report. According to the Israel Health Ministry, the figure was more than 120 for the children who were vaccinated against COVID-19. Furthermore, the vaccines offered more protection to teenagers who have received the booster dose of the vaccine.

Vaccines received in last 3 months provides 'improved protection' against virus

The Health Ministry in a statement informed that the vaccines received in the last three months whether two doses or booster doses gave "improved protection" against COVID-19 even during the wave fueled by Omicron variant, in comparison to people who have not received the vaccines or those "whose vaccines are out of date." According to the study, teenagers who received a booster dose of vaccine were infected at a rate of about 90 cases per 100,000, while the unvaccinated were infected at a rate of 330 infections per 100,000. 

Vaccines protect teenagers against COVID-19

According to the study, teens who have been fully vaccinated three to four months earlier were infected with COVID-19 at a rate of 220 cases per 100,000 people and those who got vaccinated five months or earlier were infected with COVID-19 at a rate of around 290 per 100,000, the figure is little better than those who have not received the vaccine, as per the news report. The study involving children and teenagers was conducted by the Health Ministry in collaboration with scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the Hebrew University and the Gartner Institute at Sheba Medical Center. 

COVID-19 situation in Israel

According to statistics given by the Israel Health Ministry, as of 20 January, 71,844 new COVID-19 cases have been reported taking the overall tally to 388,393.  The total number of fatalities reported due to COVID is 8,362. 541 people are still seriously ill due to COVID-19 complications. According to the Israel Ministry of Health, 6,681,132 people have been vaccinated with the first dose of vaccine against COVID while 6,044,559 have been fully vaccinated. Moreover, 4,415,608 people have taken their first booster shot in Israel while 581,584 have received the second booster dose of vaccine. 

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