February 22, 2021
The Rise of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in Israel Intensifies the Role of Surveillance and Vaccination in Elderly
Category: Article Summary
Topic: Vaccines and Immunity
Keywords (Tags): transmission, variants
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An analysis of over 300,000 RT-PCR samples collected in Israel between December 6th, 2020 and February 10th, 2021 in the general community and nursing homes found that the B.1.1.7 variant outcompeted the wildtype SARS-CoV-2 strain, representing 90% of positive tests. The variant was 45% more transmissible than wildtype. In addition, the transmission of B.1.1.7 in the population of adults over age 60 declined significantly after January 14, 2021, by which point half of people in this age group had received the first vaccine dose.
Munitz et al. (Feb 19, 2021). The Rise of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in Israel Intensifies the Role of Surveillance and Vaccination in Elderly. Pre-print downloaded Feb 22 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.16.21251819