PFE Pfizer Inc

By Felicia Schwartz and Dov Lieber 

PETAH TIKVAH, Israel -- When residents and staff at an assisted-living facility received their first shots of Pfizer Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine last month, they threw a spontaneous dance party and shook their hips, while remaining six feet apart from one another.

Now, all of the 110 elderly residents and 45 staff members at the Bayit Balev retirement home in a city east of Tel Aviv have received both shots of the vaccine, but the mood is less jubilant. As Israel remains under lockdown, and infections spread across the country, a return to normal still seems far off.

"We don't know when it's going to be over," said 89-year old Elaine Aber, who has 23 grandchildren she hasn't been able to hug in months. "That's the feeling now."

Israel's citizens are at the forefront of the world's most aggressive vaccination campaign. With more than 30% of its population having received the first dose of the vaccine and 14% having had the second, the country's residents offer an early glimpse of what life might be like as vaccinations become the norm in society.

The answer: Not much different to now, public-health restrictions remain in place and new variants of the virus are on the loose.

"The war is still ahead of us," Chezi Levy, director-general of Israel's health ministry, told Radio Kan on Monday. "If we don't know how to behave according to the regulations we've made, we won't beat this sickness. The vaccines alone won't be enough."

In about two weeks, Israel is expected to have given 2.5 million of its approximately nine million people both their first and second shots. Israeli officials are eyeing a full reopening of the economy if they can control the new variants in the coming weeks.

Israel imposed a third lockdown in December and said Sunday that it would shut its only international airport until at least the end of the month to halt the spread of new coronavirus variants in the country. New cases in recent weeks hovered at about 9,000 a day but have come down over the past few days to around 7,000.

As Israelis consider going back to normal, they remain under a strict lockdown. Enforcement has been particularly challenging in Israel's ultra-Orthodox communities, where rabbis have resisted shutting schools, large-scale gatherings have continued and police have been reluctant to enforce the rules. The ultra-Orthodox are protesting a proposal to increase fines for violations.

Health officials suspect the highly contagious U.K. variant of Covid-19 sparked the recent surge in cases. Pfizer says it is still testing its shot against new variants.

Early Israeli studies of the virus are offering hope. Maccabi Healthcare Services' research arm said it saw a 60% reduction in coronavirus infections two days after the second dose was administered to its patients aged over 60, as well as a 60% drop in hospitalizations among people over 60 two days after the second shot. It also found that of 128,600 people who received both doses, just 20 people contracted Covid-19 more than one week after the second dose. Half of those people suffer from chronic illnesses, they said.

Early data from Clalit, Israel's largest health-care provider, suggests Covid-19 infection rates began to decrease among a group of vaccine recipients two weeks after they received the first shot.

For those who have received both injections, Israel's health ministry is issuing certificates as the basis for a so-called green passport. Holders would be allowed to go to restaurants, stadiums and other public places that were closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Only now are people in Israel beginning to explore what they might do with the stronger immunity brought about by the vaccines.

Harriet Bark, 76, said she recently visited a friend's apartment at Bayit Balev and did something unthinkable just a few days before -- she ripped off her mask and placed it on the table. Her friend did the same.

Mrs. Bark, who with her husband moved to the facility in November 2019, wanted to see the full faces of their new neighbors. Some are warming up after a frosty reception.

"People are not afraid to sit next to each other anymore," said Mrs. Bark, who wore workout clothes with a lime-green stripe and a matching lime-green fanny pack. "Before, they used to push you away."

After almost a year being locked indoors, residents of Bayit Balev -- which in Hebrew means home in the heart -- said many of the barriers back to normal are psychological.

Although she is confident of her immunity from Covid-19 after her vaccinations, 80-year-old Nina Kantor won't dine out just yet. Maybe in Petah Tikvah but not in Tel Aviv, the crowded nearby city -- who knows what kind of virus variants are circulating there, she said.

Her friend, Mrs. Aber, won't even order takeout. "You don't know who is preparing it or what they have," she said.

Some Israelis who have been vaccinated are starting to think about international travel. Gabriel Salzman, who lives in Herzliya and received his second shot on Thursday, said he and his wife used to take four international trips a year. A cruise to Alaska last summer was canceled, said the 73-year-old retiree, but he has no fear about resuming his globe-trotting.

"When the world will be ready for us, we are ready," said Mr. Salzman.

Israel Shafir, who lives on a farm in Beit Uziel, said one of the things he misses most about pre-Covid-19 life is a literary club. His book club migrated to Zoom almost a year ago. But while many of his fellow members are vaccinated, they aren't getting together just yet because they aren't sure whether the virus can be passed to those who haven't had the shot.

"In order for this to have a social effect, we'll need to really see that people who are vaccinated didn't catch the Covid," the 68-year-old Mr. Shafir said. "We need a little more affirmation for people to feel freer to associate."

Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2021 07:11 ET (12:11 GMT)

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