Government officials believe Israel will begin to vaccinate 200,000 people daily this week, an unprecedented rate they believe will allow for a speedy opening of the market in its entirety in March through the use of its "green passport" plan.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Beginning Sunday, Israelis aged 45 and over will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Over 2 million Israelis have been vaccinated against COVID-19 thus far.
According to Health Ministry data, 8,398 of the 101,722 coronavirus tests performed on Saturday were found to be positive, for an infection rate of 8.5%. There are currently 83,611 active cases, 1,184 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 274 are on ventilators. So far, 3,959 people have died.
On Wednesday, the cabinet will convene to discuss extending Israel's tightened third lockdown by another week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We are in a tight race right now between the spread of the virus with the mutations and the vaccinations. I believe that with the cooperation of all of Israel's citizens, we will win this race."
Speaking ahead of a government meeting, he said, "I hope we will vaccinate 200,000 people today and that we continue to do throughout the week to allow for the gradual opening with the "green passport" of portions of the economy and life …. To this end, we need to assess the morbidity rate and whether an additional limited period [of lockdown] is needed."
In an interview with Army Radio, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, who heads the Health Ministry's Public Services department, said, "This week will be critical." She said the effect of people receiving the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine would begin to be seen, "and we may see a break in the number of seriously ill patients."
As for the South African and British variants of the virus, Alroy-Preis said there could be instances where the vaccine is less effective on certain mutations. "In any instance in which people are infected a week after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, [the test] will be taken to a lab for examination," she said
A senior official involved in the decision-making process told Israel Hayom the government's handling of the pandemic was a "global success. There are countries overseas that are talking about a lockdown until the end of April. Here, the vaccines are already working, and we will probably see a full opening of the economy in March.
"There's talk of failed management [of the crisis], but that is nonsense. This is a huge success. There are only two things that work: lockdown and vaccines. We also have better enforcement than other countries. There are always sectors that don't adhere [to the guidelines], that's the case in every country, here it's the Haredim, but there is enforcement."
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center has blamed the heavy workload for the death of a 47-year-old father of five hospitalized in the center's coronavirus ward, Friday. Moshe Harazi passed away when his ventilator's breathing tube disconnected and medical staff failed to notice in time.
In a statement, Sourasky Medical Center management said an initial investigation conducted Saturday found the ventilator had been dislodged, but that given the multitude of simultaneous alerts in the intensive care unit, a few minutes had passed before medical staff became aware of the problem.
"Given the heavy workload and the increase in morbidity, hospital management has decided to reduce the number of beds and proportionately reduce activity to reinforce staff for the treatment of coronavirus patients," hospital management said.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
