He presented himself as the only candidate who could have closed the deal with Pfizer to secure the early delivery of millions of vaccines, boasting of his personal appeals to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who, as the son of Holocaust survivors, had great affinity with Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu until posted a clip from “South Park”, the American animated sitcom, recognizing the supremacy of Israel’s vaccination.
But experts said his claim that the virus was in the rear view mirror was overly optimistic.
A few months ago, daily rates of infection and mortality in Israel were among the worst in the world. In February, Israel also led the world in number of blockade days. About two million Israelis under the age of 16 cannot be vaccinated and about one million eligible citizens have so far chosen not to do so.
With a large part of the adult population now vaccinated, weekly infection rates have been falling dramatically. But there are still more than 1,000 new cases per day, an infection rate that, adjusted for the population, remains higher than that of the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Spain and others.
Health officials approved the reopening of business and leisure activities. But they sharply criticized a Supreme Court decision this week that suspended airport landing quotas, in part to allow Israeli citizens abroad to return and vote.
“The Supreme Court is taking responsibility for the risk of mutations entering Israel,” Yoav Kish, the deputy minister of health, wrote on twitter. “Good luck for all of us.”
Critics blame the government for not establishing a reliable system to enforce quarantine for people entering the country, and health experts warn that they can bring dangerous variants of the virus that are more resistant to the vaccine.