With Israel in the midst of a renewed coronavirus infection wave, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday the country's goal is to vaccinate 30,000 teens daily.
"The State of Israel is in a race against time," he said while touring a vaccination center in Holon alongside Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and newly appointed Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Nachman Ash.
2 View gallery
PM Naftali Bennett, right, and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz visit a vaccination center in the central city of Holon on Tuesday
(Photo: Reuters)
"We have enough vaccines for everyone, but they are set to expire by the end of July, therefore we have ten days to finish the first mandatory inoculations."
Bennett expressed his appreciation for the adolescents who arrived to get their shot - who have been the age group mainly hit by the latest infections.
"I tell the parents who think their kids should not be vaccinated and that everything is fine - the Delta variant can hurt those who are not inoculated, and those are the kids," he said.
PM Bennett takes a video with a girl who had just received her coronavirus vaccine
(Video: Shmulik Davidpour)
The premier said that the government will work to ban all travel to so-called "red" countries - nations with high coronavirus infection rates - focusing on what he labeled the "bug" at Ben-Gurion Airport.
"100% of arrivals are being tested, but there are still bugs we have to examine and fix," he said. "We are on it and it will be taken care of very soon."
The Health Ministry said Tuesday that 283 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Israel the day before. With more than 67,926 tests conducted, the infection rate was at 0.4%.
At least 21 patients are in serious condition, of whom 14 are ventilated. The overall death toll in the country stands at 6,430.