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If you want to know what the next chapter in the COVID saga looks like, look to Israel. The small Middle Eastern nation has a population that is less than the State of Michigan and was one of the first countries to introduce mass vaccinations to its population. Israel only uses the BioNtech/Pfizer version, but the fact it got shots into arms months before the United States means it is ahead of our country in understanding side effects and efficacy. The picture it paints is a bleak one.
The Israeli Ministry of Health warned back in April about myocarditis in young adults who have been vaccinated. It predicted that the condition presents as much as 20 times more often following the second dose of Pfizer’s mRNA version than would otherwise be expected for men ages 16-24. US officials have conceded a link most likely exists, but that it is less dramatic than the Israeli data. A study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association authored by George Diaz says American officials are underestimating the myocarditis risk from mRNA vaccines (which includes the Moderna option) significantly.
In late July, an Israeli study pegged the Pfizer vaccine at only 39 percent effective against recent COVID-19 infections. The data came out before many institutions and companies implemented vaccine mandates for employees and students. Now we know that American data is no better. The Mayo Clinic estimates the Pfizer vaccine has prevented COVID infection in 42 percent of recipients since July 1st. Remarkably similar to what Israel reported. The White House referred to the study as a “wakeup call.” It is unclear as to why they were unaware of the direction the data has been trending.
The term “pandemic of the unvaccinated” has been thrown around for weeks by public health officials. Here too, Israeli data has a prediction to make, and it suggests that narrative will not hold. The number of severe COVID-19 cases there has jumped 70 percent in the past week alone. Since early July, it is a sobering twenty-fold increase. The vast majority are among the fully vaccinated. Israel put into effect one of the strictest lockdowns in the world last year to battle the disease, so there is little natural immunity among the general population.
