Israel should make people who get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 wait for another week before issuing them a green pass, a healthcare provider argued on Monday.
The green pass grants those who had received both doses of the vaccine against coronavirus or recovered from the disease access to leisure facilities and, in the future, mass events too.
According to data provided by Meuhedet Healthcare Services, 459 out of more than 100,000 of its customers that had received both shots have been diagnosed with COVID-19 – 254 of them were diagnosed within the first week after receiving the second booster shot, and another 122 patients were diagnosed between the first and second weeks after getting the shot when they were already eligible for a Green Pass.
Only 41 patients have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the third week after receiving the second shot, and that number drops further to single digits as time passes.
This means that the vaccine's efficiency stands at 89.37% after a week from getting both shots and shoots up to 96% after 15 days.
Dr. David Mosinzon, director of Meuhedet’s medical division, said that removing social distancing regulations and giving the green pass as soon as eight days after the second vaccine is too early.
“Hundreds of vaccinated who have not yet passed two weeks from the date of vaccination will, in line with the easing of their regulations, go in good faith to large events indoors,” he said. “They have been careful to get a second shot, and will go without knowing they may have contracted the virus before their body developed a high level of immunity, and without thinking they may be contagious.”