The highly contagious Delta wave continues to subside in Israel. The Health Ministry reported on Thursday that of the 112,764 Israelis it screened for the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, 5,921 (5.64%) tested positive. The reproduction rate continued to decrease and now stands at 0.81.
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There are 69,076 active cases in the country, with 1,061 Israelis hospitalized. Of those, 253 are in critical condition and 197 are on ventilators. Based on data, 70% of critically ill patients are unvaccinated Israelis, even though they only make up 7% of the population.
Israel has reported 1,250,200 cases, including 7,592 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.
Meanwhile, according to the CEO of Moderna vaccine manufacturer Stephane Bancel, the coronavirus pandemic will come to an end within a year.
In an interview with Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, he said, "Based on the vaccine production rate in the last six months, in about half a year there should be enough vaccines for all inhabitants of the earth, including booster shots." According to Bancel, vaccines for toddlers will be available soon as well.
Bancel said "those who have not gotten vaccinated [against COVID] will be immunized naturally because the Delta variant is so contagious. In such a way, we will come to a situation similar to the flu. There will be two possibilities – to get vaccinated and enjoy a good winter or risk getting infected and even hospitalized."
Bancel also stressed that Moderna's booster shot will not change this year, but mostly likely will in the future.
"We are running clinical trials at the moment to research how many doses are needed for the Delta variant," he said. "They will form the foundation of our booster next year. We are also testing the Delta Plus Beta variant, the strain scientists expect to be the next highly contagious one. In any case, vaccine prices will not change."
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