Israeli Health Ministry says medical workers will receive COVID-19 vaccine first
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Israeli health workers and employees of nursing homes and geriatric care facilities will be the first to be inoculated during the first stage of the nationwide vaccination campaign, the Ministry of Health's press service said on Thursday.
"The first vaccination phase will begin on Sunday, December 20. At this stage, the vaccine will be delivered to 10 hospitals and vaccination centers at health funds. Medical personnel will be vaccinated first," the press service said.
In addition, workers of geriatric care and psychiatric facilities, as well as medical students, rescue services staff and employees of nursing homes and social welfare institutions, will also be the first individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the ministry reported.
The Jerusalem Post news outlet reported earlier in the day that Israeli mayors would get vaccinated next week "to serve as a personal example for their residents to follow," while the Israeli military said that they would join the vaccination campaign by the end of December, including the chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said that he would be the first in Israel to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus on Saturday. President Reuven Rivlin is expected to get vaccinated on Sunday at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center.
Persons aged over 60 and high-risk groups of people will receive the vaccine during the second phase of the first vaccination stage. Teachers, kindergarten assistants, social workers, prison staff and prisoners are expected to be vaccinated next.
The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 arrived in Israel last week. In total, the Israeli government has signed a deal for 8 million doses of the vaccine, which is already being used in the United Kingdom. Israel has also concluded deals with other developers, including the US firm, Moderna, for other candidate vaccines.
Clinical trials for Israel's domestically produced vaccine against COVID-19 began in early November. On December 14, Israel successfully completed phase one of the trials and plans to start phase two in the coming days, according to the defense ministry.
