After the first two weeks of its vaccination drive some 1,090,000 Israelis have received their first Pfizer Covid-19 jab including nearly 50% of the country's over-60 population, the Ministry of Health reports.
After receiving their second vaccination, three weeks after the first, Israel's Ministry of Health plans giving all those who have been inoculated the right to receive a green passport. This document, which will be available one week after receipt of the second vaccination, can be downloaded from a Ministry of Health app or printed from the website.
The green passport will exempt the holder from having to isolate when returning from abroad or after being in contact with somebody who is diagnosed as Covid-19 positive. They will also be exempt from Covid-19 survey testing and from taking tests when entering the country or other places requiring a test. The green passport will offer similar rights to the 382,000 Israelis who are entitled to a Ministry of Health document that they have recovered from Covid-19.
What remains unclear is to what extent there will be international recognition of Israel's green passport by countries who would allow vaccinated Israelis to enter without the need for going into isolation. Cyprus, for example, has already announced that from March tourists can enter the country without going into isolation if they can present proof that they have been vaccinated along with a negative Covid-19 test. Cyprus, which has been hit hard by the absence of tourists, is the first European country to make such a move.
Update: Israel's Covid-19 project coordinator Prof. Nachman Ash has said that initially the green passport will be valid for six months and private businesses such as restaurants, cafes, events halls and more will be entitled to refuse entry, if they choose, to people without the vaccination document.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 3, 2021
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021