Interior Minister Amir Ohana says prison staff to receive vaccines while prisoners to be inoculated in accordance with guidelines for vaccinating general population. Israel Prison Service hopes to receive coronavirus vaccines for inoculating staff this week.
Leaders of hardline Jerusalem Faction issue special letter assuring followers that "expert doctors" have not found any evidence that the COVID vaccine poses a danger.
"We will take citizens' financial situation into account. A third lockdown is unlike the first two lockdowns, and this time we will act with restraint and containment. We expect the public's cooperation," Israel Police official says, noting enforcement to focus on gatherings against guidelines and violations of quarantine.
Starting this week, people under 60 with chronic health conditions will now be eligible for the vaccine, and Health Ministry Director General Professor Hezi Levy is looking into the possibility of starting vaccinations for all teachers.
4.1% of COVID tests conducted in past 24 hours come back positive; death toll since start of pandemic in Israel hits 3,171.
Passengers disobey Coronavirus Cabinet orders that all Israelis returning home must enter a two-week quarantine at a state-run hotel facility.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eizenkot is being pursued by everyone from Yair Lapid to Naftali Bennett to Ron Huldai, although as the former IDF chief leans Right, there is little chance he would join Huldai's party.
Vaccinated Israelis will be able to travel to the Dead Sea and Eilat, skip mandatory quarantine if they return from abroad or come in contact with a coronavirus patient, and visit cultural venues and attend sports events.
Netanyahu says combination of Israel's vaccination campaign, third lockdown means that in a few weeks, Israel will likely be the first country to put the pandemic behind it. "It's a huge blessing," he says. In effort to meet PM's goals of inoculating over 100,000 Israelis a day, Health Ministry orders vaccinates to be administered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Shabbat.
As of Wednesday, 1,5% of Israel's population has received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. According to Our World in Data research institute, 2.4 million people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus worldwide, one million of them in China. In the US, 614,000 have received the vaccine, in Russia, 200,000, and in Canada, 26,000.
