JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than half of its population, the health minister said Thursday, a global rollout that has helped the country come out of pandemic closures.
Distribution of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Israel began in December, extending eligibility to citizens and residents over the age of 16 – approximately 69% of the 9.3 million residents. People are considered to be fully protected a week after receiving the second shot.
In a statement announcing the milestone amid a continued decline in the number of new infections, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein called on citizens to “follow (health) guidelines so that the coronavirus does not return.”
He said that 50.07% of the total population – or 72.5% of the eligible population – had received both vaccine doses, while 55.96% of the total population received the first dose.
Israel began relaxing a nationwide lockdown in late February. Most businesses and schools, as well as airports, have gradually resumed operations – with capacity constraints. The fully vaccinated and the approximately 8.7% of Israelis recovered from COVID-19 with presumed immunity receive a “Green Pass” certificate from the Ministry of Health giving access to various leisure facilities.
According to data scientist Eran Segal of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel has seen an 85% drop in the number of daily COVID-19 deaths, a 72% drop in the number of critically ill and 86% fewer daily cases since the third peak of the pandemic in mid-January. .
LIMITED PROFESSION
Health Ministry Director General Hezi Levi told Reuters he believed all eligible Israelis could be fully vaccinated by the end of May. But some officials privately estimate that 10% of the eligible population does not intend to get vaccinated.
Israel counts Palestinians from East Jerusalem among its population and has provided them with vaccines. It has also offered vaccines to Palestinians working in Israel and settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian health officials have launched a limited vaccination program in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with doses provided by Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the global COVAX vaccine sharing initiative.
Israel has been criticized internationally for not doing more to make Palestinian vaccinations possible. It says Palestinians are responsible for health measures in self-governed areas.
A group of six Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations said they had appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to demand that the state deliver vaccines to the entire Palestinian population.
“COVID-19 morbidity and death rates in the West Bank and Gaza are increasing dramatically, but the supply of vaccines to Palestinians so far covers less than 1.5% of the population,” said one petitioner, Physicians for. Human Rights Israel, in a ruling.
A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research released Tuesday found that 55% of Palestinians are willing to take the vaccine when it becomes available or has already received it, while 43% are unwilling to take it .
Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub; Written by Dan Williams; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Giles Elgood and Nick Macfie