Israel continues to see a continuous rise in COVID cases and seriously ill patients, with 877 coronavirus patients hospitalized and over 524 patients in serious condition on Sunday, the first time since March that the number of seriously ill patients has surpassed 500. Israel’s ICUs and coronavirus wards are already overflowing and at least one hospital, Assaf HaRofeh in Be’er Yaakov, is not accepting any more coronavirus patients. Ambulances are waiting outside hospitals for hours until beds can be freed for new patients. Also, according to a Kan News report, hospitals will be canceling elective medical procedures in order to free staff members to work in COVID wards. Ynet reported that doctors are expressing frustration at those who choose not to vaccinate as the ICU is filled almost exclusively with unvaccinated coronavirus patients. “The unvaccinated patients are young and very ill,” said Dr. Noa Eliakim-Raz of the Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva. “It’s heartbreaking and at the same time baffling. The safety of vaccines has been proven after a billion people around the world have already been vaccinated.” “By the time they come to us, there is no point in asking why they failed to get their shots. I’m sure, had they understood the suffering of patients and their families and the terror felt by them when their health deteriorates, they would have acted differently.” Professor Zvi Friedlander of Hadassah Medical Center said that the unvaccinated population is responsible for the fourth coronavirus wave. “My anger is directed at the million or so who did not get their vaccines,” he said, adding that that unvaccinated patients tell him how sorry they are now for not being vaccinated. Dr. Eliakim-Raz said that medical teams are exhausted after fighting COVID for over a year but the coronavirus is not going anywhere soon. “There will always be a battle between new mutations and the population’s immunity,” she said. “The more people have immunity, the better off we will be. We’ll need boosters periodically, and with new variants, morbidity will rise – just like other diseases evolve – but in time we’ll learn more about COVID and how best to live with it.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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