The Israeli vaccination campaign officially began Sunday morning, with health care workers, the president, and the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff receiving the coronavirus bullet during the day.
President Reuven Rivlin will receive the vaccine Sunday morning at a hospital in Jerusalem. IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi will receive the first dose of the vaccine on Sunday to set a “personal example” for the rest of the troops, the army said last week. Healthcare workers are also eligible to receive the photo from Sunday.
From Monday, Israelis aged 60 and over and at risk can be vaccinated at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) by prescription.
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The government hopes to absorb about 60,000 people a day and up to two million Israelis by the end of January. But Hebrew media reports said the first week would be a pilot program, lowering the expectation that hundreds of thousands of Israelis would receive the vaccine within days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vaccinated against COVID-19, 19 December 2020 (GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night became the first Israeli to receive the coronavirus vaccine, get the hang of live television and start the country’s ambitious COVID-19 vaccination campaign, highlighting the event as “A very good day” for Israel.
“One small injection for a man and one big leap for health for all of us,” asked Netanyahu, 71, of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, echoing the famous words of astronaut Neil Armstrong after his encounter land on the moon.
“If everyone works together, sticks to the rules and is going to be vaccinated, we will get out of this and we could do well. as the first country in the world to emerge from this [pandemic]. Let’s do it together, ”he said.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein was vaccinated times later.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein will receive a coronavirus vaccine at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan on December 19, 2020. (Amir Cohen / Pool / AFP)
The vaccine comes in two doses, administered three weeks apart.
The Ministry of Health has set targets for circulating the picture.
After the admission of people over 60, Israelis work in jobs at high risk of exposure to the virus, such as teachers, social workers, first responders, and workers. prison work (prisoners also get priority); And Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and other security guards will get the vaccine.
The rest of the population will eventually arrive, with a timeline based on how many doses Israel will reach and the level of demand from the priority groups.
A nurse holds vaccines against the coronavirus on arrival at Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem, before the Israeli population begins vaccination. 19 December 2020. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Several organizations are not vaccinated at this stage, including those who have survived COVID-19; women who are pregnant or pregnant – or soon planning to become pregnant; people with a history of severe allergic reactions; and Israelis under 16.
Israel will apply the Pfizer vaccine in the first phase of the inoculation push.
Along with around four million doses from Pfizer expected to arrive by the end of the month, Channel 12 said Wednesday that a further four million doses were expected by the end of March for a total of eight million doses – enough for four million person to be vaccinated. The population of Israel is approximately 9.25 million.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein will observe that a plane carrying the first batch of Pfizer vaccines arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on December 9, 2020. (Mark Israel Sellem / Flash90)
The country has also agreed to receive 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, enough for 3 million people, authorized in the United States for emergency release Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. However, Channel 12 has stated that the Moderna vaccine is not expected to reach Israel earlier than April.
Earlier on Saturday, Channel 13 reported that authorities were already out of doses for distribution after sending the first batch of several tens of thousands of doses to HMOs, with no clear timeline for when reached the next vessels of pictures.
The director general of the Ministry of Health has denied the report.
“There will be vaccines for all the people of Israel, talk of a shortage that is not right,” Chezy Levy was quoted as saying by Ynet news site.
Chezy Levy, director general of the Ministry of Health, at a press conference at the Ministry of Health on 21 June 2020. (Screenshot: Facebook)
A tax also called for all Israelis to be vaccinated on Saturday. He told Channel 12 News he was “delighted and excited” that the campaign was about to begin.
He also warned that Israel was moving towards new restrictions to prevent an increase in diseases, and possibly even a third lockout.
With new daily issues mounting, the coronavirus cabinet was ready to meet Sunday to discuss new restrictions on the public, possibly including closing trade for several weeks.
Israel is embroiled in a dramatic rise in new COVID-19 cases, with daily infections up to nearly 3,000 from Tuesday to Friday, the highest case loads in more than two months.
The criterion set by the government for restoring restrictions is an average of 2,500 cases per day over an entire week or a basic reproduction number of over 1.32. That figure was at 1.27 last week, according to the Ministry of Health. Any value over one means that the rate of virus infection is increasing.
Measures under consideration include the closure of all street shops and malls within the next few days as well as the closure of some school levels in areas with high disease rates.
Jerusalemites wearing a face-to-face shop at Mamilla center in Jerusalem on December 1, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
Coronavirus czar Nachman Ash warned Saturday that Israel would not see significant results from the vaccination campaign for weeks.
“We will start to see results after at least two months from the start of the vaccination program,” Ash said. “Despite the vaccination, we must adhere to the restrictions. at the same time. “