Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein have held a press conference about the latest developments in the battle against Covid-19 including the lockdown and the vaccination drive.
Netanyahu said, "We are in the midst of a race between the huge vaccination rollout and the virus's mutations. The vaccination drive is the key to exiting from the coronavirus. The mutation has hit the whole world and it is hitting us. 80% of the infections here in Israel are the mutation. What does it do? 97% of the fatalities are people over 50 and 93% of those seriously ill are in the group over 50. If we can take control over the disease for those age groups through the vaccination and protection, then that means we are on the way to victory over the coronavirus. Of course that is not taking into account surprises with new mutations. Therefore we have set a basic national target for exiting the virus: vaccinating 90% of people above the age of 50, within two weeks. Today 77% have been vaccinated."
Netanyahu stressed the vaccinations time and again. "I call on everyone to get vaccinated. It is important for everyone. It will allow us to open up the economy gradually and save lives and every day counts."
Talking about the lockdown, he said, "There is an argument in the cabinet over every day of the lockdown. Three days of lockdown means 200,000 more vaccinations. We will begin by gradually reopening the economy next week. In a cautious way we will put before the cabinet our exit plan. We are one people and we will overcome this."
Netanyahu stressed the importance of getting vaccines to the Palestinians. "We are not an island and Palestinians are coming in here."
Therefore, he said, he had approved the transfer of 5,000 doses to the Palestinian Authority and more vaccines would be passed on when all Israeli citizens have been vaccinated.
Regarding the closure of Ben Gurion airport, Netanyahu said, "Because of the mutations, we closed all the border crossings into Israel because even one person coming in can infect be exponentially. You ask how can Israelis be left abroad? A fundamental condition for protecting the lives of our citizens is taking tough decisions in tough circumstances."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 2, 2021
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