Netanyahu: Total Vaccination by End of March

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ predicted on Thursday that by next Pesach, barring the unforeseen, the pandemic in Israel will be over and Lail HaSeder can be celebrated normally.

Netanyahu announced a “tremendous breakthrough” in obtaining shipments from Pfizer that will enable Israel to vaccinate all of its citizens over the age of 16 by the end of March, “and perhaps before,” he said on Thursday evening.

The development comes at a time when the national vaccination drive has begun to slow down due to lack of supply.

“We will become the first country to get out of the coronavirus,” said Netanyahu. “The first plane will come on Sunday and there will be more, consecutively.”

“On next Leil Pesach, if there are no surprises,” Israelis can celebrate with their families, he said, recalling that last year the country was under its first lockdown and traditional gatherings were officially limited to immediate family.

Meanwhile, the Magen David Adom emergency service announced the completion of its vaccination drive in nursing homes, giving the first dose of the shot to 150,000 residents and workers.

The milestone makes “Israel the first country in the world to vaccinate all elderly care facilities in the first phase,” MDA proclaimed in a statement.