Israel is vaccinating at a much faster rate than the UK and is set to overtake it in a matter of days, a new graph showed, with experts predicating that the country will have achieved herd immunity by Passover.
In only three days, Israel has achieved half the coverage of the UK, which was the first country to being a vaccine drive two weeks ago. The UK has so far inoculated 0.74 percent of the population with the first dose of the vaccine while Israel has injected 0.35 percent of the population.
The Times of Israel cited a graph by Oxford University and Our World In Data that placed Israel in second place after Britain in the world’s vaccination rankings. The U.S. came third with 0.19 percent of the population vaccinated since Monday.
The beginning of the vaccine drive comes as the chances of a third lockdown loom, with infection numbers soaring past 3,500 in a 24-hour period.
An elderly woman gets vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus at Clalit health services in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on December 23, 2020. – Israel has ordered 14 million coronavirus vaccine doses — covering seven million people, as two doses are required per person — from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and US biotech firm Moderna. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Jonathan Halevy, president of of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the Jewish holiday of Passover at the end of March 2021 will be in stark contrast to last year’s, where many people spent the seder night alone while the country was in nationwide lockdown.
“The eve of Passover is almost three and a half months from now and I have no doubt that we will be able to celebrate the Seder with our families because of the vaccine,” said Halevy.
“Before mid-April a critical mass of the Israeli population will be vaccinated, which will lead to herd immunity,” he added.
Russia, China and Canada, came fourth, fifth and sixth on the graph.
Halevy predicted that “during the first half of 2021 we could ease the social distancing rules” with some 270,000 people already booked for vaccine appointments, Haaretz reported.
Health officials estimated the country will be the first to vaccinate its entire at-risk population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli to receive the vaccine on Saturday evening, getting the jab on live TV.
“One small injection for a man and one giant leap for the health of us all,” Netanyahu, 71, quipped from Sheba Medical Center after receiving the shot from his personal physician.
A medical health worker carries a vial of the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at Clalit Health Services center in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv on December 21, 2020. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Health care workers in health maintenance organizations and hospitals were the first group from the wider population to receive the shot.
People over the age of 60 and people from high risk groups, including people with diabetes, morbid obesity, and a suppressed immune system, began receiving the vaccine on Monday.
People with increased risk of exposure to the virus, including teachers, social workers, prisoners and prison guards, were the next group follow, after which security personnel and IDF soldiers will receive the shot.
The total number of infections in Israel reached 380,095 this week. The death toll stood at 3,111 according to Ministry of Health figures released Tuesday.
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