TEL AVIV – Israel will begin vaccinating everyone over the age of 16 on Thursday, the government said, expanding the world’s fastest vaccination field against Covid-19 because it has a new increase in infections.
The small country in the Middle East has already administered the first survey of a recommended two-dose regimen to more than a third of its approximately nine million population since the program began on December 20th. It started the campaign by focusing on those over 60 the most vulnerable, including front-runners, and gradually expanded the list in the weeks that followed. About a fifth of the entire population has been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Israeli Ministry of Health.
Israel, which leads the world in vaccination against Covid-19 in terms of the percentage of the total population vaccinated, aims to vaccinate the majority of its population by March. This was made possible after paying a premium for early shipments from Pfizer Inc.
and agreed to share vaccine data, from efficacy to side effects. It has also placed orders with other vaccine companies, including Moderna. Inc.
and AstraZeneca PLC.
Meanwhile, infections have continued to increase over the past few weeks despite a month-long closure that includes a total ban on international flights since last week. Israel earlier this week increased the fines for those who violate the exclusion, but maintaining them remains a challenge, especially among Israel’s severely affected ultra-Orthodox community.
About 80% of Israel’s current cases are caused by a rapidly spreading coronavirus variant from the United Kingdom, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We are, of course, on the road to a victory over the coronavirus if there are no surprises like new mutations that we do not know and that Israel can enter,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.
The Israeli cabinet is meeting again on Wednesday night to extend the nationwide exclusion so that the vaccines can catch up with the new outbreak.
Mr. Netanyahu said Israel’s exit from the closure would depend on the vaccination of 90% of those over 50 in the next two weeks, as the age group is responsible for the most serious cases. So far, Israel has vaccinated 77% of this group, he said.
Israel says it is on track to vaccinate everyone over 16 by the end of March. To understand how the small country so quickly vaccinated more of its population than any other, WSJ visited clinics that give shots to young and middle-aged citizens. Photo: Tamir Elterman for The Wall Street Journal (Originally published January 11, 2021)
The Israeli Ministry of Health on Wednesday instructed its four health maintenance organizations that everyone over the age of 16 can be vaccinated. The campaign has so far been open to people between 16 and 18 and older than 35.
The move also comes as healthcare providers have struggled in recent days to use up all of their vaccine supplies as initial enthusiasm for the campaign has waned, fewer people turn up for shots and the proportion of people in the target groups yet to be vaccinated is shrinking. Israel reaches a high percentage of those over 60, and some groups, including ultra-Orthodox, teachers, and Arab Israelis, were less receptive to the vaccination campaign.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, the number of people has dropped by half in the past week. Israel aims to vaccinate more than 200,000 a day. The country vaccinated 100,097 people on Tuesday and 116,814 people on Monday.
Israel currently has 73,700 cases of coronavirus, including 1,108 seriously ill patients. So far, 4,890 people have died and newly recorded cases are about 7,000 a day.
Israel on Monday handed over 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine to the Palestinians amid growing concerns that the spread of the disease in the neighboring West Bank and Gaza could become a threat to the country.
—Dov Lieber contributed to this article.
Write to Felicia Schwartz by [email protected]
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