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Hundreds of people vaccinated against Covid-19 filled a Tel Aviv football stadium on Friday for the first of four concerts organized by the municipality, while Israel eases restrictions on the virus.
The 500 fans wore masks and sat in the central section of the Bloomfield stadium, which seats 30,000, to attend a performance by Israeli pop star Ivri Lider.
“This is very cool. I am very happy,” said Reut Gofer, when he arrived at the venue.
“I hope this is the beginning of a period when we will return to our normal lives,” she added.
Israel in February began easing restrictions after a third blockade and has since gradually reopened shopping malls, gyms, swimming pools, hotels and some cultural facilities.
But, in most cases, the return to normality was reserved for people who have been fully vaccinated, under the so-called “green badge” scheme.
Israel is among the world leaders in Covid-19 vaccinations per capita.
More than half of the country’s nine million population has already received the two recommended doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech coronavirus vaccine since the beginning of the inoculation campaign in December.
“As the majority of the population has already been vaccinated … we can finally open up our cultural and leisure activities,” said Eytan Shwartz, a spokesman for the municipality of Tel Aviv.
“I hope that soon we will be able to fill the (Bloomfield) stadium,” he added.
Israel recorded more than 796,000 cases of Covid-19, including more than 5,800 deaths.
(AFP)