Between two and three million Israelis will have received the vaccine by March 23, a possible date for new elections, the Ministry of Health’s director general said Tuesday.
The Director General of the Ministry of Health said Dr. Hezi Levi told Ynet that the ministry has been preparing for some time for access to national elections during the pandemic amid the ongoing political closure over the state budget.
Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Hezi levi
(Photo: Ido Erez)
“Whatever the elections, I would be delighted that the public would respond and that we would be able to vaccinate at least three million or more before [March 23], to get a vaccination case for the people of Israel and get back to our regular lives, ”Levi said.
“I don’t think elections will affect the virus.” The real problem is the lack of a budget. We are working to transfer money to hospitals and control the pandemic, we will continue to do this and provide the vaccines in addition to everything else that will be needed, ” said Levi.
Levi also reassured that the long reported lines for vaccines would improve as the campaign continued. “The vaccination campaign started two days ago, we are at the beginning of the work. HMOs are setting up more vaccination sites, things will work out,” the professor said.
“Together with the HMOs, we will be able to vaccinate more than 60,000 to 70,000… By the end of the month, we will receive millions of vaccines, so we will be able to vaccinate the public without any disruption,” he said.
The coronavirus vaccine in Beni Brak
(Photo: AFP)
He said the ministry is also investigating whether the newly discovered strain of coronavirus in the UK has found its way into Israel.
“We know that the change is bringing in more people at a faster rate, about 70-60% more. We’ve seen this in the UK and elsewhere,” Levi said. the nature of the disease should be the cause of hysteria, it is certainly not more violent, which is what we know for now.There is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine is non- effective against the new pressure. “
The professor said the new snort was the main reason Israel voted to implement measures that would see foreign entrants quarantined in state-run hotels.
Heavy loading at Ben Gurion Airport
(Photo: Yoav Limor)
“We just recently learned that about two-thirds of returnees do not follow the self-isolation guidelines. Now that we want to limit the spread of the new strain we want to put people off alone to make sure the quarantine is not broken. “
The Ministry of Health said Tuesday that 3,594 people tested positive for coronavirus a day earlier, the highest number in months – with a fall rate of 4.2%.
“We are in the midst of a disease escalation that requires a rapid response,” Levi said. “I’m not sure tension restrictions as proposed will be enough to deal with this increase – we may need to consider closure.”