The coronavirus infection coefficient on Tuesday dropped to its lowest level since October as the Health Ministry on Wednesday morning reported it had fallen to 0.68 as of March 6 – the latest date for which information on the coefficient was available.
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The number is far below the 1.0 R reproduction rate, which is the level of spread needed for the virus to maintain a stable number of infections in a population.
The Health Ministry also said a total of 1,472 new cases of the virus were diagnosed Tuesday, marking a sharp decline in the infection rate. Of all tests conducted Tuesday, just 2.1% came back positive, down from 2.5% Monday, 2.4% Sunday, and 3.0% Saturday. It marked the lowest level since December 1, when 1.9% of tests returned positive.
There are currently 25,941 known active cases in Israel, including 922 cases requiring hospitalization.
Of those, 578 patients are in serious condition, down from 603 patients on Tuesday, 626 on Monday, and 637 on Sunday. Wednesday's level is the lowest since December 25.
The number of coronavirus-related fatalities now stands at 6,051, including 11 deaths reported Tuesday and two Wednesday morning.
Thus far, 5,140,261 Israelis have received at least one dose of the vaccine (55.28% of the population) with 4,362,416 people having received two doses (46.91% of the population).
Just over half (53.4%) of people in their 20s have received both doses of the vaccine, with 70% having received at least one dose.
Nearly 90% of Israelis over 90 have received both doses, with 96.3% having received at least one dose. A higher percentage (91.6%) of Israelis in their 70s received both doses, with 96.5% having received at least one dose.
"This is how you defeat the coronavirus and get back to life," said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. "More than 4 million citizens are eligible for the green pass as of Wednesday morning and over 5 million have thus far received at least one shot of the vaccine, and people keep pouring in.
"There are still around 1 million Israelis who can get vaccinated and I call on them – come, there's no need to wait. You can already see how effective the vaccine is and how dangerous the coronavirus is. You also see how many places are only open to people with the green pass. Isn't it a shame that you're left behind?"
Meanwhile, a new study in Israel suggested on Wednesday that pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 could pass along protection to their babies.
According to the research conducted in February, antibodies were detected in all 20 women administered both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine during their third trimester of pregnancy and in their newborns, through placental transfer.
"Our findings highlight that vaccination of pregnant women may provide maternal and neonatal protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection," the study said.
The findings by researchers from Jerusalem's Hadassah- University Medical Center were posted this month on medRxiv – an online distribution service for unpublished research manuscripts that have not been peer-reviewed.
The authors noted the small size of the study and said further research was necessary to gauge the effect of vaccination at different stages of pregnancy, and the safety and efficacy of the different vaccines now available.
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Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said last month they had started a 4,000-volunteer international study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccine in healthy pregnant women.
The trial will also assess whether vaccinated pregnant women transfer protective antibodies to their babies.
A separate US study posted last week and also awaiting peer review, found that the antibodies induced in pregnant women from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Inc shots, were transferred to the babies via the placenta or breast milk.
