Top Israeli scientist warns: Fourth wave will be ‘deadlier than anyone predicted’

A top scientist advising Israel on its pandemic response has alerted the world that the fourth coronavirus wave will be “deadlier than anyone predicted.”

The Weizmann Institute’s Eran Segal issued a stark warning this week as cases surge in Israel, and the effectiveness of the double Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was “waning”.

Writing for MailOnline, he said the country is responding with booster jabs, but Israel’s experiences “have several implications for Britain” and other nations. 

Segal urged countries to  “redouble their efforts to persuade vaccine-refuseniks” to get a jab, while ensuring boosters are given to the vulnerable. 

“It would be wise to act now to prevent a deadly wave in the UK”, he said.

This comes after a huge surge in cases in Israel, with more than 6,000 cases a day on average. So far 6,752 deaths have been recorded, including 29 yesterday. He also highlighted that waves in France and Iran have been “deadlier than anyone predicted”.

Saying Israel was “cautiously hopeful” that by vaccinating most of its population it had beaten the virus, Segal said it is “seeing that the combination of a highly transmittable variant, reduced vaccine effectiveness and the 15 per cent of those eligible for the vaccine who remain unvaccinated has changed the course of the pandemic”.