Israel is, at this stage, the world champion in vaccination against Covid-19. Four million Israelis were vaccinated as of Wednesday, February 17, or 45% of the population, of which 2.6 million people received the second injection, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health. It is therefore the highest vaccination rate in the world. And the country’s leading health insurance fund, Clalit, published a study of 1.2 million people finding that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, companies with which Israel has a biomedical data sharing agreement, was 94 percent effective.
With an effective vaccine and a high percentage of the population vaccinated, the authorities plan to gradually reopen gyms, museums, shopping centers, restaurants and cafes from Sunday and thus get out of its third confinement. But these places will not be open to everyone. The government has announced a “badge” system, purple for people who are not vaccinated or have only received one dose and green for those who have had their second injection or are “recovered” from Covid.
Shopping malls, libraries, museums, cafes and some places of worship will be open in “purple” mode. So for everyone. And gyms, sporting and cultural events, restaurants (with reservation) will be open for holders of the “green badge”, that is to say having a double vaccination or recovery certificate…. “We are moving forward with responsible deconfinement in the form of ‘If you are vaccinated, you can enter'”, summed up Defense Minister Benny Gantz of this measure which could be difficult to implement for businesses.
To be able to return to the country
In addition to the “badges”, doubly vaccinated Israelis can also receive a “green passport” allowing them to re-enter the country – after a trip abroad – without having to go through quarantine, but still presenting a negative Covid test. . At the start of the pandemic, the intelligence services had used anti-terrorism measures to track down people who had been in contact with others who had contracted Covid-19, which had sparked controversy and pushed elected officials to slow down this initiative.
This time, the government encourages people to be vaccinated, but must also find a “delicate balance” between public health and respect for individual freedoms, explains to Agence France-Presse Hagai Levine, professor and researcher in public health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “In Israel, everyone (aged 16 and over) can get vaccinated for free […] and I think we need to get vaccinated. But it is also a right not to want to do it and in this sense the government cannot force anyone, ”he said.
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