A health worker will administer a Covid-19 vaccine to Clalit Health Services, in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli town of Bnei Brak, on January 6, 2021.
JACK GUEZ | AFP | Getty Images
Israel is being praised for deploying what is currently the fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the world.
Less than a month after receiving the first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, the country of 9 million has vaccinated about 20% of its population, and more than 72% of people over the age of 60 have already had their first dose of the shot . The Israeli Ministry of Health is aiming to have 5.2 million of its citizens vaccinated by March.
The vaccinations, officials say, will help the country gradually come out of its strict lockdown, and soon with the help of a new document: a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, or what’s called the “green book”.
In essence, an immunity passport announced by the Department of Health earlier this week, the “green book” would be given to people who have received two doses of the vaccine.
“The Ministry of Health will issue the vaccine certificate upon receipt of the second dose,” the Israeli Ministry of Health said on its website. “It will take effect seven days later, not counting the day of vaccine administration.”
The booklet would give vaccinated individuals significant freedom from the security restrictions of Covid-19. People who hold it no longer need to do the following:
- Go into isolation after coming into contact with an infected person.
- Go into isolation after an international trip to a “red zone” of Covid, or countries with very high infection rates.
- Must be tested before entering certain tourist areas, also known as “green islands”.
However, they would still be required to wear a mask in public and maintain social distance, stay six feet from others, and avoid social gatherings.
Vaccinated people holding the booklet would “qualify for relaxed restrictions on destinations around the world,” the ministry’s website said.
Data on evidence of vaccination would be registered in the Ministry of Health database, and recovered patients who have not been vaccinated would not be eligible for the booklet, according to the website.
People are lining up for a Covid-19 mass vaccination center in Rabin Sqaure in this aerial photo taken in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, January 4, 2020. Israel plans to kill 70% to 80% of the population by April or May. vaccinate. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Israel’s incarceration will begin to be lifted on January 21, but a spike in cases in recent weeks means it could be extended. The country registered a record high of 9,997 cases on Wednesday, roughly double the daily number of cases at the end of December. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there have been 523,885 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,846 deaths in Israel.
The vaccination drive has faced more obstacles in Arab and Orthodox Jewish communities in the country, where vaccine skepticism is higher. Israel has also come under fire from human rights groups for not extending its vaccination campaign to Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Authority has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca and expects to receive the first doses of that vaccine in March, but has strongly criticized Israel for overriding its responsibility to provide aid. Israeli officials have said this should be up to the Palestinian Authority.
According to local Israeli news reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with officials on Tuesday about how to lift the lockdown step by step and how to introduce the green book. No date was given for the launch.