Israel is applying pressure at a rapid pace of vaccination
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In Israel, like here in a Tel Aviv hospital, vaccination is faster than in any other country
Source: dpa / Ariel Schalit
While Germany has to wait months for a vaccination, Israel turns on the turbo. The country is battling a peak in new infections and is now vaccinating faster than any other in the world.
WITHTwo days after the start of a new partial lockdown in Israel, the corona infection numbers in the country have climbed to the highest level in three months. The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that 5,449 new cases had been registered within 24 hours – the numbers were last so high at the beginning of October.
For comparison: the German health authorities reported 12,892 new corona infections within 24 hours. Germany has about nine times as many inhabitants as Israel. On Sunday afternoon, a third part lockdown came into force in the Mediterranean country, which should initially last for two weeks. However, an extension of several weeks is expected.
An intensive vaccination campaign is running at the same time. According to the Ministry of Health, around half a million Israelis have already been vaccinated against the corona virus in the past ten days – 115,000 of them on Monday alone. According to Oxford University’s Our World website, the small country of nine million people is the world leader in terms of the number of people vaccinated per 100, followed by Bahrain and Great Britain.
Israel aims to vaccinate its risk groups as soon as possible and then reopen the economy. From mid-January onwards, “green passports” are to be issued for vaccinated people who have received two doses, which will grant them various freedoms. This includes, for example, the exemption from the quarantine obligation for citizens when entering Israel. Strict entry restrictions still apply to foreigners in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already said on Saturday evening that as soon as the risk groups were vaccinated, Israel could get out of the corona crisis within 30 days, “open the economy and do things that no other country can do”.
The 71-year-old head of government, against whom a corruption process is ongoing, is fighting for his political survival. On March 23, a new parliament will be elected in Israel for the fourth time within two years, after which Netanyahu will have to reckon with difficulties in forming a government.