Israel hits milestone of over 4 million vaccinations

About 2.6 million Israelis have received both doses — or some 43% of the eligible population.

Around 3 million Israelis are not eligible to be vaccinated, including those younger than 16 and people who have recovered from COVID-19, among other reasons.

The latest vaccine data was not yet available from the Health Ministry, which reported over 3.99 million people have been vaccinated as of Monday night. Official ministry figures on vaccination rates are sometimes only updated at the end of the day.

To mark the occasion, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein met with a man in Jerusalem symbolically designated as Israel’s 4th million vaccinee.

Netanyahu urged the 570,000 people age 50 and up he said have yet to be vaccinated to get the shot, noting the higher rates of serious illness and mortality among this population.

“When you do not go to be vaccinated because of this small jab, which is insignificant — in the worst case the side effects are a few hours’ discomfort — you take upon yourselves the risks of death and severe illness with effects that could be for life,” he said.

Netanyahu added: “Not only are you saving yourselves; if you do not go to be vaccinated then many of you will become very sick and you will be a challenge for our hospitals and then we will be compelled to impose a new lockdown.”