Israeli contracted Omicron at conference where all were fully vaccinated

Both doctors were fully vaccinated – two doses of Pfizer BioNTech’s vaccine, plus a booster shot

One of the few confirmed cases of Omicron in Israel is that of Dr. Elad Maor, a 45-year-old cardiologist at Sheba Medical Center who recently returned from London, where he attended a three-day medical conference along with over 1,200 other professionals. Maor is convinced that he contracted the new COVID variant while in London on either the second or third day of the conference. He tested negative for COVID before leaving Israel, and then twice while in London and then again immediately upon his return. Since it takes a while for the virus levels to reach a level at which they can be detected in a PCR test, it seems probable that the conference was the source of his infection.

It was only when he began to experience typical COVID symptoms (fever, muscle aches, and a sore throat) that Maor took a fourth PCR test, which this time came back positive. In the interim, Maor had already gone back to work at Sheba, where, he says, he most likely infected a 69-year-old colleague who has since tested positive for the Omicron strain.

Both doctors were fully vaccinated – two doses of Pfizer BioNTech’s vaccine, plus a booster shot.

According to The Guardian, Maor has “nothing but praise” for the organizers of the medical conference in London, who only granted entry to fully vaccinated individuals. However, data from Public Health England has been showing for months that the likelihood of contracting COVID is actually higher in people who are fully vaccinated; in some age groups, the chances of contracting the coronavirus if a person is fully vaccinated are actually double what they would be if the person had not been vaccinated at all. A recent report from November 19 in the prestigious Lancet medical journal noted this and concluded that “it appears to be grossly negligent to ignore the vaccinated population as a possible and relevant source of transmission when deciding about public health control measures.”