London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Why is Israel lifting Covid restrictions as England extends them?

Why is Israel lifting Covid restrictions as England extends them?

Analysis: both are viewed as running successful vaccine campaigns, but case numbers are very different

Israel and the UK were viewed as world leaders in their coronavirus vaccine campaigns but whereas the former is lifting almost all pandemic limitations, the latter is now glumly extending its restrictions in England amid a sharp rise in infections.

Despite starting its mass inoculation programme after the UK in December, Israel has sped ahead and it reached a key milestone on Tuesday, scrapping a requirement to wear face masks indoors, one of the final Covid limitations.

With theatrical flair, the director general of the ministry of health, Hezi Levi, removed his mask in a live TV interview for what he said was the “last time”, as the presenter chuckled.

After running the world’s fastest Covid vaccination campaign, the country of 9 million people has administered two shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to well over half its population. Daily life has returned almost completely to its pre-pandemic state, with shops, restaurants, hotels, concerts and cinemas all fully open.

Only 25 people tested positive for Covid on Monday, according to health ministry figures, and there are only 221 people in the whole country who are confirmed as having coronavirus. Fewer than 20 people have died from the disease in the past month.

In stark comparison, the UK recorded more than 7,700 daily cases on Monday, when the government announced that the final easing of restrictions in England would have to be delayed by four weeks.

The emergence of the Delta variant, first detected in India, is blamed for the steep increase in Britain. It is believed to spread 60% faster than the already highly transmissible Alpha variant, first detected in Kent, cause more severe disease, and be slightly more resistant to vaccines. More than 90% of Covid cases in the UK are now Delta.

Vast differences between the two countries, not only in population size but also cultural behaviour, access to vaccines, housing density and vaccine hesitancy, make comparisons difficult. An international debate around Israel’s obligations to unvaccinated Palestinians under occupation has also led to questions around whether its campaign can be branded a success.

Still, Israeli and British vaccination rates are not wildly different, raising questions around what went wrong and what went right. In Israel, 60% of the population has had one dose, and nearly 57% have had both. In the UK, slightly more – 62% – have had one dose, although only 44% have had two.


Oliver Geffen, an Israeli epidemiologist who has worked for Imperial College London and Public Health England, said it was vital to look deeper into the data.

“Two key differences between Israel and the UK are that Israel has a much higher rate of second dose vaccinations, and that vaccine rates are more evenly spread in the population,” he said. In Israel, he said, 77% of those 20-29 have had their second dose, while in the UK that figure is closer to 15%.

“This could be creating pockets of individuals that are susceptible to getting infected which may be driving the re-emergence of infections,” Geffen said. The recent rise in UK cases has been largely centred on people aged under 39, with particular concern over the spread in schools.

Geffen said the Delta variant in the UK could also “partially account” for the rise in cases.

While Israel has low case numbers now, variants have also hampered its efforts. The country suffered its worst rise in infections in January, even after its vaccine drive was in full force – an event blamed on the Alpha variant.

It responded by quickly shutting its borders to non-residents, a policy that largely remains in place. And while the Delta variant has been detected in Israel, it has not got out of control as it has in the UK, where the government was slower to act on curbing global travel.

Adi Niv-Yagoda, an expert in health policy at Tel Aviv University and a member of the health ministry’s Covid-19 advisory panel, said the UK’s decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine may have also affected its national campaign.

“Israel used two doses of the Pfizer vaccine,” he said, adding that the country abided by the company’s 21-day protocol for spacing the two jabs. “This is not an evidence-based correlation but we can see it is acting differently.”

Research results on different dosing methods has been mixed. One Israeli study showed two doses of the Pfizer vaccine have proved more than 95% effective against infection compared with 58% for one dose. However, a UK study found delaying the second dose might actually improve immunity in over-80s.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×