Health authorities said Monday that since the start of Israel's national coronavirus vaccination campaign less than two weeks ago, over 379,000 people have already been inoculated.
The Health Ministry said 100,000 people received the vaccine on Sunday alone, after hospitals were authorized to establish vaccination centers for the public in an effort to alleviate the heavy workload off of HMOs. So far, medical centers were allowed to vaccinate only members of staff.
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Receiving the coronavirus vaccine in Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv
(Photo: AFP)
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Israel is now among the leading countries in the number of vaccines administered. "Thanks to the efforts of the Health Ministry, HMOs, hospitals, Magen David Adom and most of all - the people of Israel who are cooperating and getting vaccinated - we will ramp up the pace of the campaign further."
Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon were among the first to take part in the vaccination campiagn.
Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa will start offering vaccinations from Monday, while Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva and Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva will start vaccinating regular citizens starting Tuesday.
Assuta Hospital in Ashdod and Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon announced they will also join the vaccination campaign sometime this week, but have not given a specific date.
On Sunday, Director-General of the Health Ministry Prof. Hezi Levi said he believes the majority of the public will be vaccinated by March. "This is something that will protect the population and therefore, the solution is to come and get vaccinated,” he said.
"The lockdown is a motivating factor for the citizens to come and get vaccinated and for us to take the needed measures to increase the number of daily vaccines administered to reach the goal of 150,000 inoculated a day, a goal set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Edelstein.”