Israel begins vaccinating 40-year-olds, targets 250,000 injections per day

Israelis over 40 are now eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, the health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that it plans to expand the campaign to vaccinate 250,000 people a day. On Monday, the country reached a record, vaccinating 186,000 people over the course of 24 hours. Some 114,000 people received a second dose and 72,000 a first dose. A total of 2.2 million Israelis were inoculated, or 25% of the population, of which 422,000 people received both doses, or about 5%. Israel began its vaccination campaign on December 17. During the first weeks, priority was given to medical personnel, patients with pre-existing pathologies and people over 60 years old. But the Ministry of Health has gradually broadened its criteria to teachers and younger people. More than 76% of people over 60 and teachers have already received at least the first vaccine. Over the past month, the country has established itself as a central vaccination center. In exchange for medical data, the government persuaded pharmaceutical company Pfizer to significantly increase the supply of doses of the coronavirus vaccine from what it had initially agreed to. According to what was reported by Israeli media the Last week, Pfizer is expected to provide between 400,000 and 700,000 Despite the success of the vaccination campaign, Israel is experiencing an unprecedented surge in cases. On Monday, he recorded more than 10,000 positive cases, the worst daily toll ever. Some 1,114 people are in serious condition and, at the latest count, the death toll reached 4,049 after an increase of 40 deaths in 24 hours.

Preliminary studies offer encouraging results on the effectiveness of the vaccine. People who received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine increased the amount of antibodies produced to defend themselves against the novel coronavirus six-to-twelve-fold, Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center reported on Monday. it may take some time before this results in a significant reduction in morbidity, in part due to the new, highly contagious variants of the virus. “It is only when we are over 80% of adults vaccinated that the vaccine will suppress the epidemic,” said the Weizmann Institute of Science Professor Eli Waxman said. “It helps us reduce the death rate and ultimately helps us control the disease.”Maayan Hoffman contributed to this report.