Ten months since the first Corona case was diagnosed in Israel, the state begins to vaccinate its citizens • Prime Minister Netanyahu: "We can return to normal life"
Less than a year since the first corona cases were reported in China, and ten months since the first case was diagnosed in Israel (a traveler from Japan was diagnosed on February 21 in Sheba), the vaccination campaign against the virus, dubbed "Give Shoulder", will begin today (Sunday).
Israel is one of the first countries to start vaccinating Corona.
Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was vaccinated in Tel Hashomer, immediately followed by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, followed by about 50 other medical staff.
President Reuven Rivlin will be vaccinated today, as will the medical staff at HMOs and hospitals.
This coming Monday, citizens from at-risk populations will also join the circle of vaccinators.
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"This is a very exciting moment," Netanyahu said. "We can return to the normal life we desire. It starts with this process, I ask everyone to join us and get vaccinated. We will invest even more resources and efforts to get back to what it was. We need your help, it depends on us all. "If everyone cooperates, both in keeping with the rules and in walking to get vaccinated, we will get out of it." After receiving the shot, he said: "This is a small shot for a person, and a big step for the health of us all."
Minister Edelstein chose to refer to the event on a personal level: "Today I looked at the date - December 19. On that date in 1984, my trial took place in the USSR because of my desire to immigrate to Israel.
Today, December 19, 2020, I have the great privilege of being the Minister of Health in the Israeli government and, together with the Prime Minister, launching the "Give a Shoulder" operation.
Allocation too low
More than 54,000 people have already registered to receive the vaccine at the HMOs.
Clalit registered 30,000 people, Maccabi 18,000 and Meuhedet 6,264 people who have already booked an appointment for the vaccine this week (including medical staff).
At Leumit, 200 appointments were ordered by staff members, and only today will the possibility of scheduling an appointment for all the insured be opened.
In the first phase, the Ministry of Health allocated relatively little stock of vaccines to the health funds and hospitals.
Thus, for example, Clalit is expected to vaccinate about 50,000 people a day at the height of the operation, but has received an allocation of about 35,000 doses for the coming week, so that almost the entire vaccine quota has already been utilized.
In the first phase, medical teams will be vaccinated in the health funds, hospitals and psychiatric hospitals, along with adults aged 60 and over.
Although the residents of the nursing homes are defined as the first priority group for vaccination, only next week will the vaccination campaign of about 160,000 residents and their employees begin, in the welfare and nursing institutions, because no logistical solution has yet been found to split the vaccine trays safely.
According to the director general of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Hezi Levy, by the end of the month, and it is possible that the immunization campaign for all citizens will be extended before then. The corona projector, Prof. Nachman Ash, and senior Ministry of Health officials estimate that in two or three months the vaccine Infection and patient numbers.
Those who choose to be vaccinated will be rewarded, to encourage the public to take part in the operation.
One week after receiving the second vaccine dose (three weeks after the first dose), the vaccinated person will receive a "green passport" - a positive incentive for vaccination.
This is a mobile phone app, which will allow entry to the tourist islands in the first stage and exemption from isolation back from abroad or in contact with a verified patient. Later, the green passport may buy benefits such as entering cultural and sports events
So far, 700,000 Pfizer vaccine doses have arrived in Israel, but in the coming days the full amount of vaccines ordered is expected to arrive - 3.8 million doses, which will be enough for almost 2 million citizens.
Clalit's CEO, Prof. Ehud Dodson, said ahead of the start of the operation: "Vaccines have been proven to be effective and safe. Vaccines can change the reality we have been experiencing in recent months and restore routine."
