JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions and began reopening its economy on Sunday as the country’s vaccination campaign and third nationwide lockdown have begun to reduce infections.
Most elementary and high school classes have reopened after nearly two months of closure, as have museums, libraries, shopping centers and markets. There are still some restrictions on the number of attendees. The entire education system is expected to return to normal in early March.
Gyms, swimming pools, movie theaters and restaurants are reopening for people who have received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Israel has unveiled its plan to allow vaccinees to attend cultural events, fly overseas and patronize restaurants and health clubs through a ‘green badge’ app on Saturday ahead of the economy reopening. The rollout of the app is fraught with technical problems.
After negotiating a deal with Pfizer to trade data against doses, Israel’s vaccination campaign became the fastest in the world over the past two months. Nearly half of the 9.3 million residents have received the first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Nearly 3 million have been given the second chance.
Israel has received international criticism for largely excluding Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from its highly successful vaccination campaign. The dispute highlights the Palestinians’ dependence on Israel, even as they themselves struggle to fight the pandemic. Last week, Israel facilitated the transfer of the first 2,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.
However, the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly in Israel, and traffic and assembly restrictions have continued since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown in late December.
Israel has recorded at least 743,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 5,521 deaths since the pandemic began last year. The three lockdowns have paralyzed the economy and the unemployment rate has risen to more than 20%