A health worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine to Clalit Health Services in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak on January 6, 2021.
JACK GUEZ | AFP | Getty Images
Israel has been praised for conducting what is now the world’s fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Less than a month after receiving the first deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the 9 million country has vaccinated about 20% of its population and more than 72% of people over the age of 60 have already received their first dose. of blow. The Israeli Ministry of Health aims to vaccinate 5.2 million citizens by March.
Vaccinations, officials say, will help the country gradually give up its strict blockade and soon with the help of a new document: a Covid-19 vaccination certification or what is called a “green brochure”.
In essence, an immunity passport announced by the Ministry of Health earlier this week, the “green brochure” would be given to people who received two doses of vaccine.
“The Ministry of Health will issue the vaccine certificate after receiving the second dose,” the Israeli Ministry of Health said on its website. “It will take effect 7 days later, regardless of the day the vaccine is given.”
The brochure would give vaccinated individuals significant freedom from Covid-19 safety restrictions. Holders will no longer have to do the following:
- Go in isolation after coming in contact with an infected person.
- Go in isolation after international travel to a Covid “red zone” or to countries with very high infection rates.
- They must be tested before entering certain tourist areas, known as “green islands”.
However, he should wear a mask in public and maintain social distance, stand two meters away from others and avoid social gatherings.
Vaccinated people who hold the brochure would be “eligible for relaxed restrictions in destinations around the world,” the ministry’s website reads.
Vaccine proof data will be recorded in the Ministry of Health database, and recovered patients who have not been vaccinated are not eligible for the brochure, according to the website.
People line up outside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center at Rabin Sqaure in this aerial photo taken in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, January 4, 2020. Israel intends to vaccinate between 70% and 80% of its population by April or May, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Israeli blockade will begin to be lifted on January 21, but the increase in the number of cases in recent weeks means that it could be extended. The country recorded a record 9,997 cases on Wednesday, about double the daily number at the end of December. Israel had 523,885 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,846 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The vaccination effort has faced several obstacles in the country’s Arab and Orthodox Jewish communities, where there is higher skepticism about the vaccine. Israel has also been attacked by human rights groups for failing to expand its vaccination campaign in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Authority has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca and expects to receive the first doses of that vaccine in March, but has strongly criticized Israel for what it considers is evading the responsibility to provide aid. Israeli officials said this should belong to the Palestinian Authority.
According to local Israeli news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with officials on Tuesday on how to gradually lift the blockade and how to introduce the green brochure. No release date has been set.