As Israel’s virus infection rate and number of serious cases continue to decrease, the Health Ministry is considering ending the requirement to wear masks outdoors from next month, according to a Channel 12 News report on Sunday night. Late Sunday night, the government made a decision to allow flights from all worldwide destinations in order to facilitate the return of Israelis who want to vote in the March 23 elections. Until now, only flights from New York, Paris and Frankfurt were allowed.

A Florida correctional officer polled his colleagues earlier this year in a private Facebook group: “Will you take the COVID-19 vaccine if offered?” The answer from more than half: “Hell no.” Only 40 of the 475 respondents said yes. In Massachusetts, more than half the people employed by the Department of Correction declined to be immunized. A statewide survey in California showed that half of all correction employees will wait to be vaccinated. In Rhode Island, prison staff have refused the vaccine at higher rates than the incarcerated, according to medical director Dr. Justin Berk. And in Iowa, early polling among employees showed a little more than half the staff said they’d get vaccinated.

There was no reason to celebrate on Rachel Van Lear’s anniversary. The same day a global pandemic was declared, she developed symptoms of COVID-19. A year later, she’s still waiting for them to disappear. And for experts to come up with some answers. The Texas woman is one of thousands of self-described long-haulers, patients with symptoms that linger or develop out of the blue months after they first became infected with the coronavirus. Hers first arrived on March 11, 2020. The condition affects an uncertain number of survivors in a baffling variety of ways. “We’re faced with a mystery,” said Dr. Francis Collins, chief of the National Institutes of Health. Is it a condition unique to COVID-19, or just a variation of the syndrome that can occur after other infections?

Israeli health officials believe that the current coronavirus situation in the country is the “most hopeful it’s been since the start of the pandemic,” Channel 13 News reported. The infection rate has been on a steady decline in recent weeks as well as the number of seriously ill patients, with 644 seriously ill patients reported on Sunday, of whom 191 are ventilated. The positivity test rate has dropped to 2.9%. Israel’s reproduction or R rate (the number of people each carrier infects) has dropped to 0.78, the lowest rate in five months. The death toll has increased to 5,988.

An Israeli anti-vaxxer group called Anshei Emet filed a suit against Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month, claiming that Israel’s vaccination policies are akin to “crimes against humanity” according to the Nuremberg Code, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. “It is our intention to present to you and detail how in the State of Israel this year, the Government of Israel with its ministers and its Knesset members, heads of cities, and additional senior factors, violate the Nuremberg Code in an unlawful manner, blatant and extreme,” the group stated.

After weeks of a life and death battle, the condition of three new mothers hospitalized in Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah after contracting the coronavirus has considerably improved. The three women had all been in critical condition after contracting COVID-19 while pregnant. Their babies were delivered by emergency C-section and they were ventilated and attached to ECMO machines. Their condition has improved dramatically and they have been removed from their respirators and ECMO machines and transferred from the ICU to an internal ward. In the coming days, they will be transferred to a rehabilitation center, from where they will eventually return home.

Will the coronavirus ever go away? No one knows for sure. Scientists think the virus that causes COVID-19 may be with us for decades or longer, but that doesn’t mean it will keep posing the same threat. The virus emerged in late 2019 and it’s difficult to predict how it will behave over the long term. But many experts believe it’s likely the disease will eventually ease from a crisis to a nuisance like the common cold. That would happen as people build up immunity over time, either through infection or vaccination. Other viruses have followed a similar path. The 1918 flu pandemic could also offer clues about the course of COVID-19. The U.S.

In an interview with Channel 12 News, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was asked why he chose Israel as a case study for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines and he responded that he was “impressed with the obsession of your prime minister.” “Of course, I was talking with several heads of state,” Bourla said. “I spoke to your prime minister. He convinced me that Israel is the place with the right conditions. But also, I was frankly impressed with the obsession of your prime minister. He called me 30 times.” “He would call me at 3 o’clock in the morning and he would ask me: ‘What about the variants? What data do we have?’ I would say ‘Mr.

Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy told reporters on Thursday that he estimates that Israel will begin vaccinating children 12 and over around May-June. Levy said his estimate is based on the clinical trials currently being carried out which he hopes “will be over around the end of spring, beginning of summer.” Levy added that the mandate requiring Israelis to wear masks will remain in place for the foreseeable future despite the plummeting infection rate, with daily infections at the lowest rate in three months. “Someone who’s vaccinated can still be a source of infection if those around them aren’t wearing masks and aren’t vaccinated,” Levy said. “The same holds true even more so for children under 16 who are definitely not vaccinated yet.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The Israeli Medical Association called on Wednesday for a criminal investigation against anti-vaxxers for threatening health care officials who encourage vaccination. Prof. Galia Rahav, a director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Sheba and a member of the Health Ministry’s advisory panel, has received threatening messages. You’re “Hitler future neighbor in hell,” one message said, with another stating: “Galia, I hope and long for a day when G-d will soon take you.” Another two members of the Health Ministry’s vaccination committee also received death threats. The Health Ministry fiercely condemned the threats, saying: “Prof. Galia Rahav agreed to use her own private time, on a completely voluntary basis, to be part of the coronavirus advisory team. Furthermore. Prof.