Israel to begin giving corona vaccines Dec. 27

Israel will begin administering the coronavirus vaccine to citizens on December 27, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday night.Speaking at a news conference on the day that the first several thousand Pfizer vaccines landed in Israel, he said the aim would be to administer jabs to 60,000 people per day, mainly through the local health funds.Every person who is vaccinated will receive a green passport and will be able to move freely, he added, though he and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said the details of the program would be coming soon.“The more you get vaccinated, the more the economy will be able to open up,” Edelstein said Wednesday night.The health minister also announced that going forward, subject to two negative coronavirus tests, it will be possible to be released from isolation after 10 days.“In the coming days we will announce when it will start,” Edelstein said. “This is good news for the economy and citizens.”

In a historic moment, the first batch of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines arrived in Israel on Wednesday – and Netanyahu, who spoke at a short ceremony at the airport, said he would volunteer to be the first to be vaccinated.“I believe in this vaccine,” Netanyahu said. “I expect it will receive the appropriate permits in the coming days and I want the citizens of Israel to be vaccinated. I want to serve as an example for them and I intend to be the first in the State of Israel to be vaccinated with this vaccine.”A DHL flight from Brussels that carried thousands of doses of the recently developed vaccine landed at Ben-Gurion Airport just after 9 a.m. The plane was met by Netanyahu, Edelstein and a small group of other officials for a celebratory ceremony.“This is one of the most moving moments that I have worked on very hard, for long months, with the Health Minister and his ministry to bring relief and a solution to the coronavirus pandemic,” Netanyahu said as the forklift lowered the container with the vaccines. “We are here today on a great holiday for the State of Israel. We see the end.”The vaccine doses were transferred directly to the Teva SLE Logistic Center, where they will be stored ahead of countrywide distribution. The vaccines must be kept at minus-70 degrees Celsius, but can last for up to five days in a refrigerator before being administered. If they defrost for too long, they begin to lose their effectiveness.Another cargo plane carrying hundreds of thousands more vaccine doses is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, and a million more will arrive next week.Edelstein used the arrival of the vaccines in the morning to thank the medical teams who have been fighting around the clock to save the lives of those struck by the pandemic and said that they would soon receive the vaccine, as well as supervise its distribution.  “With God’s help, we will see an end to the virus crisis,” he said. Though he encouraged the public to continue to follow Health Ministry regulations even as the vaccine becomes available.The vaccines arrived as the country is experiencing the start of what some consider a third wave of the pandemic.The Health Ministry reported Wednesday morning that there were 1,729 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday out of 70,215 tests that were carried out – a 2.5% positivity rate. This brings the total number of active patients in the country to 15,121. Some 316 patients were in serious condition, 106 of whom were intubated. So far, 2,934 people have died of COVID-19 in Israel.The government is set to convene on Thursday to discuss tightening restrictions over the Hanukkah holiday, after a decision to implement a night curfew was forced off the table.”We may need to tighten some of the restrictions in the coming days,” Netanyahu said at the evening briefing.Under consideration are closing businesses early in the evening and not allowing people to gather in each other’s homes or at synagogues.The public is expected to be able to travel freely outside of these restrictions, although no decisions are final and can only go into effect 24 hours after they are authorized by the government.Multiple surveys taken in the lead up to the vaccines’ arrival have shown that only around 50% of Israelis will be willing to be vaccinated with the first doses.A survey conducted by the Geocartography Institute and released on Wednesday found that 35% of Israelis prefer to be vaccinated with an Israeli vaccine – assuming it is approved soon.Some 20% of Israelis prefer to be vaccinated with a vaccine developed abroad.The survey, conducted in advance of the first ever DiploTech Global Summit 2020 on December 16, was conducted among 500 Israelis over the age of 18.The Health Ministry has yet to release the final list of who will be prioritized to receive the vaccine, but it is understood that medical personnel, the elderly and the people at highest risk for developing a serious case of COVID-19 will be at the top.In recent days, hospitals have been surveying their staff to find out if they will agree to be vaccinated.“We doctors are at the forefront of the struggle against coronavirus and therefore, we will be among the first to be vaccinated and serve as a personal example to the entire public,” said Prof. Zion Hagay, chairman of the Israeli Medical Association.However, he stressed that no one should be vaccinated until the vaccines receive US Food and Drug Administration approval.The FDA advisory panel is set to review the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday.He said that his association set up a special team to review the data reported by the vaccine developers that show the vaccines are safe with few side effects.“The findings of our team will be published in the coming days for the general public and will include data on efficacy and safety,” he said. “Although we see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we are all certainly happy about it, it is very important that we adhere to all the rules in the meantime, as it will take time for everyone to be vaccinated.”Following the arrival of the vaccines, the Association of Private Preschools in Israel called on the Health Ministry to prioritize preschool teachers, too.“We ask that you decide that preschools be given priorities for vaccination against coronavirus,” the association said in a statement. “Since the first closure about 2,500 preschools have been closed and many are struggling to survive. If the preschools are forced to close their gates again it means … forcing many parents to stay home with their children without a reasonable solution.”