Israel delivered its millionth COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, and is the first in the world to inoculate 10% of its population.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was available for the shooting of records in Umm el-Fahm.
“We have surpassed the whole world in terms of vaccines,” the prime minister said. “We’re moving at a tremendous speed.”
“It is important to me that the Arab public in Israel also get vaccinated quickly,” Netanyahu continued. “This is important because it saves lives.”
The milestone comes when the United States struggles with a slow deployment of its two coronavirus vaccines, with only 1% of the country receiving the first dose. In New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, only 32 percent of administered doses have ended up in the arms of residents.
Israel was on track to get a million vaccinations after dosing 153,000 more people Thursday with the Pfizer vaccine, according to the Jerusalem Post. This means that 10 percent of its population, 9.3 million, has obtained the 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 of you, I thank the medical staff for the amazing work.”
Vaccinations in Israel began on December 20, according to the Times of Israel.
However, the bombing of the vaccine will not continue forever, with Israel’s health ministry announcing on Thursday that it would temporarily suspend firing later this month to avoid eating the country’s entire reserve, according to the UK. Telegraph.
The ministry will suspend most new vaccinations between Jan. 10 and 31 to make sure they have enough supplies to cover the second doses for those who have already been given the first, according to the report.
The Pfizer two-dose vaccine should be given 21 days apart.
If the current pace continues unabated, Israel would deplete supplies of the Pfizer vaccine within ten days, The Telegraph reported citing local media.
Israel is the first country to vaccinate 10 percent of its population, according to a Bloomberg data analysis. The second is Bahrain, which has administered 57,317 doses to 3.9 percent of its population on December 30. The UK is third, but with only 1.4 per cent it has given the first dose of vaccine so far.