Israel Launches Covid Immunity Passports for Vaccinated Citizens

Israel has been praised for rolling out what is currently the fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the world.

Less than a month after receiving its first shipments from the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the country of 9 million has vaccinated about 20% of its population, and more than 72% of people over 60 have already received their first shot dose. Israel’s health ministry aims to have 5.2 million of its citizens vaccinated by March.

The vaccinations, officials say, will help the country gradually emerge from its strict lockdown, and soon with the help of a new document: a Covid-19 vaccination certification, or what’s called the ‘green book’.

Essentially an immunity passport announced by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of the week, the “green book” would be given to people who have received two doses of the vaccine.

“The health ministry will issue the vaccine certificate after receiving the second dose,” Israel’s health ministry said on its website. “It will come into effect 7 days later, not including the day the vaccine is administered.”

The booklet would give those vaccinated significant freedom from Covid-19 safety restrictions. Those who hold it would no longer have to do the following:

• Go into isolation after coming into contact with an infected person.

• Go into isolation after international travel to a Covid “red zone”, or countries with very high infection rates.

• Must be tested before entering certain tourist areas, called “green islands”.

However, they would still be required to wear a mask in public and maintain their social distance, staying two meters from others and avoiding social gatherings.

Vaccinated people holding the passbook would be “eligible for relaxed restrictions in destinations around the world,” the ministry’s website said.

Data on proof of vaccination would be recorded in the Department of Health’s database, and recovered patients who have not been vaccinated are not eligible for the passbook, according to the website.

Israel’s lockdown is expected to start lifting on January 21, but a spike in cases in recent weeks means it could be extended. The country on Wednesday recorded a record 9,997 cases, about double the daily number of cases at the end of December. Israel has recorded 523,885 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,846 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The vaccination campaign has encountered more obstacles in the country’s Arab and Orthodox Jewish communities, where skepticism about vaccines is higher. Israel has also been criticized by human rights groups for failing to extend its vaccination campaign to the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian Authority has reached a deal with AstraZeneca and hopes to receive its first doses of the vaccine in March, but has sharply criticized Israel for what it sees as shirking its responsibility to provide aid. Israeli officials said it should be up to the Palestinian Authority.

According to local Israeli reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with officials on Tuesday on how to gradually lift the lockdown and present the green book. No launch date has been given.