Mining magnate and United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer says the overwhelming majority of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in Israel have been vaccinated, going on to suggest the vaccine doesn’t reduce rates of serious illness. But official figures show these claims are false.
In a video shared on Mr Palmer’s Facebook page, he says: “If you go to Israel today, 94 per cent of all people in hospital have had the double jab, so it doesn’t cut down on hospitalisation, it doesn’t stop you getting it, it doesn’t stop you passing it on” (video mark 10min 5secs).
A spokesman for Mr Palmer did not respond to AAP FactCheck when asked for the basis of his statement.
However, figures from the Israel Ministry of Health show the majority of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in the country were unvaccinated at the time of writing and this cohort is over-represented when adjusted for size. Multiple studies have found vaccines are effective at reducing the risk of serious illness due to the coronavirus.
Israel was one of the first countries to begin its COVID vaccine rollout after it reached an agreement with Pfizer to provide anonymous epidemiological data to the pharmaceutical company. This has meant it has been at the forefront of research into the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine.
Data from the country’s health ministry for October 26 show 77 per cent of COVID-19 patients hospitalised with severe illness were unvaccinated, with 187 unvaccinated patients and 55 vaccinated patients.
Read the article from AAP FactCheck.