A healthcare professional administers a Covid-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak on January 6, 2021.
JACK GUEZ | AFP | Getty Images
Israel has been praised for implementing what is now the fastest vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the world.
Less than a month after receiving its first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the 9 million country has already vaccinated about 20% of its population, and more than 72% of people over 60 have already received their first shot . Israel’s health ministry plans to have 5.2 million citizens vaccinated by March.
Vaccines, officials say, will help the country gradually step out of its strict blockade, and soon with the help of a new document: a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, or what is being called a “green booklet”.
Essentially an immunity passport announced by the Ministry of Health earlier this week, the “green booklet” would be given to people who received two doses of the vaccine.
“The Ministry of Health will issue the vaccine certificate after receiving the second dose,” the Israeli Ministry of Health said on its website. “It will go into effect 7 days later, not counting the day of vaccine administration.”
The booklet would offer vaccinated individuals significant freedom from Covid-19 security restrictions. The people who hold it no longer need to do the following:
- Stay isolated after contacting an infected person.
- Stay isolated after an international trip to a Covid “red zone” or to countries with very high infection rates.
- They have to be tested before entering certain tourist areas, known as “green islands”.
They would, however, still be forced to wear a mask in public and maintain social distance, staying two meters from the others and avoiding social gatherings.
Vaccinated people holding the booklet would be “eligible for relaxed restrictions in destinations around the world,” said the ministry’s website.
Data from the vaccination voucher would be recorded in the Ministry of Health’s database, and recovered patients who have not been vaccinated are not eligible for the booklet, according to the website.
People line up outside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center in Rabin Sqaure in this aerial photograph taken in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, January 4, 2020. Israel plans to vaccinate 70% to 80% of its population in April or May, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said.
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Israel’s blockade is set to begin lifting on January 21, but an increase in cases in recent weeks means it can be extended. The country recorded a record 9,997 cases on Wednesday, about double the daily number of cases at the end of December. Israel had 523,885 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,846 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The vaccination campaign has faced more obstacles in the orthodox Arab and Jewish communities in the country, where there is greater skepticism about the vaccine. Israel has also been criticized by human rights groups for not extending its vaccination campaign to Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Authority has made a deal with AstraZeneca and expects to receive its first doses of this vaccine in March, but has strongly criticized Israel for what it considers an escape from its responsibility to provide aid. Israeli officials said that this should fall to the Palestinian Authority.
According to local Israeli press reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with officials on Tuesday about how to lift the blockade and how to introduce the green booklet. Its release date has not been released.