More than half of Israelis receive doses of COVID-19 vaccine

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than half of its population, the health minister said on Thursday, a global launch that has helped the country emerge from pandemic closures.

Distribution of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Israel began in December, with eligibility extended to citizens and residents over the age of 16, approximately 69% of the population of 9.3 million. People are considered fully protected one week after receiving the second shot.

In a statement announcing the milestone amid a sustained fall in new infections, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein called on citizens “to follow (sanitary) guidelines so that the coronavirus does not return.”

He said 50.07% of the global population (or 72.5% of the eligible population) had received both doses of vaccine, while 55.96% of the global population had received the first dose.

Israel began easing a national shutdown in late February. Most companies and schools, as well as airports, have resumed their activity gradually, with capacity limits. Fully vaccinated people and about 8.7% of Israelis who have recovered from COVID-19 with alleged immunity are issued Green Pass certificates from the Ministry of Health that give access to various places of leisure .

Israel has seen an 85% drop in daily deaths from COVID-19, a 72% decrease in critically ill patients and 86% fewer daily cases since the third peak of the pandemic in mid-January, according to the scientist data Eran Segal, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. .

LIMITED RESOURCE

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 estimate privately that 10% of the eligible population has no intention of getting vaccinated.

Israel has the Palestinians of East Jerusalem as part of its population and has been providing them with vaccines. He has also offered vaccines to Palestinians working in Israel and to settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian health officials have launched a limited vaccination program in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through doses provided by Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the global COVAX vaccine sharing initiative.

Israel has been criticized internationally for doing nothing more to allow Palestinian vaccinations. He says Palestinians are responsible for health measures in self-governing areas.

A group of six Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups said they had appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to demand that the state provide vaccines to the entire Palestinian population.

“COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in the West Bank and Gaza are rising sharply, but the supply of vaccines to Palestinians so far covers less than 1.5% of the population,” said one of the petitioners, Doctors for Rights. Humans Israel. statement.

A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, released on Tuesday, found that 55% of Palestinians are willing to take the vaccine when it is available or have already received it, while 43% are not willing to take it. .