Israel currently has no plans to follow the new US guidelines that relax mask requirements for people who are fully vaccinated, public broadcaster Kan said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines on Monday, saying that fully vaccinated Americans can meet with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social detachment.
The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can live in the same way with people considered to be at low risk for serious illnesses, as in the case of vaccinated grandparents who visit healthy children and grandchildren.
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However, senior officials at the Israeli health ministry told Kan that Israel would not advocate similar measures yet, saying that there was still insufficient information on whether vaccinated people could still transmit the virus.
Kan called the Israeli approach “very strict”, with clear evidence that vaccines dramatically reduce infections.
The issue is likely to come up in a few weeks during the Easter holiday, when families traditionally gather for large festive meals at the Seder. Last year’s holiday was celebrated under Israel’s first – and most stringent – coronavirus blockade, with many elderly people forced to celebrate alone.
News from Channel 12 reported, without citing a source, that Ministry of Health officials began to discuss whether it should be easier for families to get together.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told Channel 12 on Sunday that he hoped families could celebrate Easter together later in the month.
“I sincerely hope that we can be with the whole family … I am hopeful, and this is a hope with a very good foundation … that with proper conduct [by the public], we’ll be able to avoid further blockages. I really ask everyone to help us with this, ”said Edelstein.
Perahia Shilo sets the Easter Seder dining table next to a photo of her children and grandchildren, on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, April 8, 2020. (Gershon Elinson / Flash90)
The CDC issued its guidance to meet a growing demand, as more adults are being vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family members, travel or do other things they did before the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the world last year.
“We know that people want to be vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they like with the people they love,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a statement.
The CDC continues to recommend that fully vaccinated people continue to wear tight-fitting masks, avoid large gatherings and physically distance themselves from others when they are in public. The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that may be related to COVID-19.
Authorities say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last necessary dose of the vaccine. About 30 million Americans – or just about nine percent of the US population – have been fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the federal government so far, according to the CDC.
In Israel, the percentage is much higher. On Monday, Israel vaccinated its fifth millionth citizen against the coronavirus when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted that the entire adult population would be vaccinated by the end of April.
Christina Kibby, a kindergarten teacher in Granby (right), receives Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical Madeline Acquilano at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, March 3, 2021. (Photo by AP / Jessica Hill)
Of the five million who have already received the first dose of the vaccine, 3,789,118 also received the second, according to data from the Ministry of Health released Monday. I
Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of last year, 803,260 people have been diagnosed with the virus and there are 37,698 active patients.
Of Israel’s total population of 9.3 million, about three million, including recovered children and children, were not initially eligible for vaccination. Israel announced last week that it would begin to give a single shot to the recovered.
The prime minister also said on Monday that he had been in contact with Pfizer and that the company will soon announce a vaccine approved for use in children.
