But what is going on in Israel??
Both countries have about the same population and vaccination rates.
The only obvious difference is land area, but we know as Americans that having a lot of secluded land area doesn't necessarily inhibit the spread of the virus.
Originally Posted by Strokey_McDingDong
Possible reasons for the difference --
This time of year people in Israel may be spending more time indoors than people in Sweden. (It's hotter outside in Israel, so perhaps people want to stay indoors with A/C, and comparatively more comfortable outside in Sweden.) The virus spreads easier indoors.
Sweden in addition to immunity from vaccinations has more immunity from infection. Unfortunately that was at a cost -- COVID deaths per capita in Sweden are about 80% higher than Israel
You posted they have roughly equal percentages of the population vaccinated. If Sweden though has a higher percentage of its old people vaccinated and a lower % of its younger people vaccinated than Israel, then Israel isn't protected as well from COVID deaths. That's because deaths among the old are orders of magnitude higher than deaths among the young. I have no idea if this is the case though.
Israel started vaccinating earlier than other countries, including Sweden, and used the Pfizer vaccine, which doesn't appear to offer as durable immunity as Moderna and perhaps some other vaccines. People in Sweden on average were vaccinated later, and the country used a number of vaccines including Moderna. This is why Israel is pushing Pfizer booster shots - the Pfizer immunity from the first two shots is wearing off in Israel.