Israel is expected to begin a mass immunisation campaign against the novel coronavirus on December 27, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late on Wednesday.
The country will be vaccinating its populations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination, which is being used by the United Kingdom to protect against COVID-19.
“We will begin the first injections on December 27 – in two and a half weeks. Israel is equipped to make 60,000 vaccinations per day, and this is a tremendous figure.” Netanyahu stated in a speech.
Israel’s health officials will allow the so-called green passport for those treated to enable them to travel freely, the prime minister continued, noting that he intends to get immunised first.
Earlier in the day, a plane transporting the primary shots of the Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine aboard arrived at the Ben Gurion airport.
In mid-November, Netanyahu declared the signing of a contract with Pfizer to ensure two-dose jabs for 4 million of its residents.
Aside from the contract with Pfizer, Israel also has communicated and agreed with US biotechnology company Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers.
Besides, Israel launched clinical trials of its vaccine in November, and Phase 3 is scheduled for April-May.
On Thursday morning 1,828 more people tested positive of coronavirus, while a total of 2,934 people killed of the contagious virus.
Authorities in the UK have advised people with severe allergies to medicines and food items to not take the Pfizer vaccine’s shot against coronavirus.