Israel and Iceland’s COVID Fatalities Are Down, Despite Recent Surges
The Claim
Coronavirus is surging in heavily vaccinated Israel and Iceland, proving that the vaccine is either ineffective or is itself causing the surge.
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Emerging story
In recent days, a number of social media users have claimed that the coronavirus vaccines don’t work, highlighting Iceland and Israel’s coronavirus resurgences as proof. Some of these users claim that Israel and Iceland have become coronavirus hotspots despite high vaccination rates. Others have claimed that Israel’s administration of third shots of the Pfizer vaccine may be the cause of the resurgence in that nation.
These posts have gained significant attention. Some have gained thousands of interactions within 24 hours.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: Medical experts agree that vaccines are effective, even in countries currently undergoing a coronavirus resurgence such as Iceland and Israel. Reuter’s coronavirus tracker shows that while coronavirus cases are increasing in Iceland, fatalities are not. On August 28th, the country recorded three coronavirus deaths. Prior to the vaccine’s introduction, the coronavirus death rate was much higher, even with a lower infection rate. Israel’s data also shows a lowered death rate, even while infections are high. On September 1st, the country saw 39 deaths. On the same day, it recorded over 16,000 infections. Comparatively, on January 20th, the country recorded 93 coronavirus deaths and recorded 7,900 infections. Therefore, vaccines have been effective in reducing the coronavirus death rates in both countries.
Infectious disease experts told The Washington Post that they believe that Iceland’s low death rate in the face of a significant rise in infections proves that the vaccines are effective. Phil Matthiasson, who is the chief executive of Iceland’s largest hospital, has said that if the vaccines had not been administered, the current outbreak would be a catastrophe.
Medical experts have also explained that Israel’s coronavirus surge is due to cases among unvaccinated people, such as children who are too young to receive a vaccine. Epidemiologists have also reported that booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine have declined coronavirus cases among citizens over 30.
