When trying to identify the effects of the vaccination we’re hampered by the fact that right as the vaccination drive started Israel went into its 3rd lockdown following an unprecedented rise in infections (possibly due to the B117 strain).
>>
Therefore we need to tease apart the effect of the lockdown from that of the vaccinations and the new strain.
Luckily, we have 2 natural sources of variation that we can use to tease apart vaccine effects:
>>
1 - Age: for the first few weeks of the drive, mostly ages 60+ were eligible to be vaccinated
2 - Variation across municipalities: some were quick to get vaccinated, some less so
(much of the variation in correlation with SES
Here is the rate of (1st dose) vaccination in all cities in Israel with more than 5k aged 60+ population
Early vaccinated cities: cities that have at least 85% of ages 60+ vaccinated by 10/1
Late vaccinated cities: cities that have not reached 70% of 60+ vaccinated by 10/1
Finally, in order to try and control for the effects of the lockdown, we compare with the dynamics of the 2nd lockdown which started in Sept. 2020.
We therefore make a triple comparison:
Ages 60+ vs. 40-60
In early vs. late vaccinating cities
In the 3rd vs. 2nd lockdowns
>>
For example, hospitalizations for aged 60+ in the early vaccinated cities (green) declined faster and steeper compared to late vaccinated cities (red) in the 3rd lockdown (middle row);
and very different to the behavior exhibited in the 2nd lockdown for these age groups (top row)
The 60+ age group also declines faster and steeper when compared to a younger age group (age 40-60), and this behaviour is also very different in the 3rd lockdown compared to the 2nd
Positive PCR tests exhibit an even sharper contrast, but these are from routine testing data in Israel, where vaccinated individuals post 2nd dose do not need to be tested in order to be exempt from isolation. Nonetheless, this provides a good sanity check
And severe hospitalizations
Next step forward would be to conduct a formal statistical analysis to quantify and solidify these findings, as days go by and vaccination effects should become stronger
Preprint coming soon
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
2-weeks after 30% of 60+ vac., drop of 25% in % of 60+ critically ill out of all cases
Cities with higher vac. rates have fewer critically ill
But many caveats and issues
>>>
Caveats:
1.5% critically ill 60+ years old of all cases is low, but we reached this number several months ago. So while good and the timing consistent with a vaccine effect, it may also be due to pandemic fluctuations
>>>
Also, lower fraction of critically ill out of cases could be due to an increase in the denominator, i.e., a rise in cases of the younger population. But this too may be a positive effect of the vaccines in reducing infections, and there are already positive such indications
Currently a major surge, but we project a plateau in critically ill in a week
Despite all this, Israel tightened its 3rd lockdown today
A thread on why this was the right decision to make now
>>>
In 1-2 weeks, we expect a plateau in the critically ill due to:
1. Effect of the less strict lockdown imposed 10 days ago
2. Start of the vaccines effect
3. Striking similarity in critically ill rise in the 2nd and 3rd lockdowns. If a rerun, then plateau is a few days away
There are early signs for our projection of a plateau in the coming 1-2 weeks, since the Arab sector has already plateaued, and in the other sectors despite a >60% weekly rise in cases in children, 60+ rose only 10%
May also be the first effects of the vaccines. Too early to say
Numbers were still high when we exited 2nd lockdown
And we repeated the same mistakes of the second wave. When cases started rising in specific sectors, first the Arab sector, then the orthodox, we didn't put enough measures in these peak areas, so eventually it spread to all sectors and all cities
בחלופה של הסגר שמתחיל מחר, ובהנחה שיעילותו תהיה דומה לסגר השני, יצא לנו ששיא התחלואה יהיה באמצע ינואר ומשם תתחיל ירידה בתחלואה. בשיא יהיו כ-6000 מאומתים, 900 חולים קשה בבתי החולים ועוד כ-1100 נפטרים מקורונה עד מרץ