Israel delivered 1 million COVID-19s on Friday – and is the first in the world to inoculate 10% of its population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on hand for filming in Umm el-Fahm, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“We have overtaken the whole world when it comes to vaccinations,” he said. “We are moving forward at an extraordinary speed.”
“It is important for me that the Arab public in Israel also get vaccinated quickly,” Netanyahu continued. “This is important because it saves lives.”
The benchmark comes as the US struggles with a slow release of the two coronavirus vaccines, with only 1% of the country receiving the first dose. In New York, with the epicenter of the pandemic, only 32% of the doses administered ended up in the arms of residents.
Israel was well on its way to hitting a million vaccinations after administering 153,000 people with the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday, according to the Jerusalem Post. This means that 10% of its population of 9.3 million received their first dose.
“So how are the 950,000 vaccinated citizens of Israel? Just yesterday, we broke another record and vaccinated 153,430 people at 325 vaccination stations across the country, “said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Friday. “On behalf of all, thank you to the medical staff for the amazing work.”
Vaccinations in Israel began on December 20, according to the Times of Israel.
The vaccine blitz will not continue forever, but the Israeli health ministry announced on Thursday that it will temporarily suspend shooting at the end of this month to avoid eating the country’s entire warehouse, according to the British Telegraph.
The ministry will mainly suspend the new vaccinations between January 10 and January 31, to ensure that they have enough supplies to cover the second dose for those already given the first, the report said.
The two-dose Pfizer vaccine should be given 21 days apart.
If the current rate continues unabated, Israel will run out of supplies of the Pfizer vaccine within 10 days, The Telegraph reported, citing local media.
Israel is the first country to vaccinate 10% of its population, according to a data analysis by Bloomberg. The second is Bahrain, which has administered 57,317 doses to 3.9 percent of its population since December 30. The UK is in third place – but only 1.4 per cent have received the first dose of vaccine so far.