Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that 2.25 million Israelis could be vaccinated within a month.
By Ebin Sandler
On Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement laying out an ambitious road map to administer coronavirus vaccines to the nation’s citizens.
“We are starting the week with gigantic news,” said the prime minister, continuing, “I spoke over the weekend with the heads of the companies that are providing us with the vaccines and I told them that our goal by next weekend is to reach 150,000 vaccines a day.
“This is fantastic [and] such a magnitude is a world record. I asked them to match the rate at which the vaccines are supplied to the pace of the inoculations and they said that they think they can do it.”
According the prime minister, “Within 30 days of reaching this pace we will have vaccinated 4.5 million citizens. Since everyone needs two injections, after one month we will have vaccinated 2.25 million Israeli citizens. There is nothing like this in the world.”
Netanyahu referred to this period as “the critical stage” during which Israel would attempt to vaccinate the “at risk” population, which he identified as “medical teams” and “people over 60.”
With 95% of Israel’s coronavirus mortality affecting this demographic, Netanyahu predicted that vaccinating these populations would mean that Israel “can emerge from the coronavirus, open the economy and do things that no [other] country can do” within 30 days.
“Afterward, another 4.5 million will come … but this is the critical stage and we can accomplish it,” added Netanyahu.
While touting the Israel’s “huge vaccine operation,” Netanyahu said that the country still needs “tightened lockdown,” which is slated to go into effect on Sunday evening.