The coronavirus cabinet was slated to convene on Sunday to decide whether to impose further restrictions on public life over rising coronavirus morbidity, as Israel began rolling out a mass vaccination campaign.
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According to Health Ministry data, 373,368 Israelis have contracted the virus since the pandemic erupted in mid-March. Currently, 447 patients are in serious condition, and 346,217 Israelis have recovered from COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of 3,074 Israelis.
The ministry said that thousands of medical professionals will receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday morning. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein received it on Saturday night, in a televised event.
A survey by the Israel Medical Association conducted last week found that over 82% of doctors are willing to take the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them. Medical teams have been prioritized for inoculation.
IMA President Dr. Zeev Feldman, who also serves as director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Department at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, said that "the vaccination of doctors and medical staff against the coronavirus has direct and meaningful implication on the vaccination of all the citizens of Israel in the ultimate victory over the disease.
"The public will, as it did at every stage of the pandemic, turn to the medical world for guidance; they expect them to be the first to get vaccinated."
President Reuven Rivlin, former Coronavirus commissioner and CEO of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center Professor Ronni Gamzu, former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, and Finance Minister Israel Katz were vaccinated on Sunday.
Gamzu thanked the medical personnel and urged the public to "make an appointment and get vaccinated. It's the right thing to do."
Lau said that the vaccine would bring unity to Israel and that when it came to the vaccine, "There is no difference between right and left, religious and less, Arabs and Jews" as the virus has attacked everyone equally.
Also on Sunday, the Health Ministry announced that a number of ultra-Orthodox cities – Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit and Elad – were classified as high-infection areas and would be placed under further restrictions.
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