Israel on Sunday began to roll back some of the major restrictions imposed as part of its third lockdown in late December to curb the spread of COVID-19, allowing commercial activity to resume as well as reopening additional schools and grades.
From Sunday, shops, malls, markets, museums, and libraries will be open. Only those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 will be able to use gyms, enter sporting and culture events, hotels, and swimming pools.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a gym in central Israel on Saturday night to urge Israelis to use a new “Green Pass” system. His plea came even as the Health Ministry website that issues the passes crashed hours before the system was to go into operation. By Sunday morning it was still not working.
The Health Ministry said vaccination certificates could be used as a “Green Pass” until the system was running properly.
“There are heavy loads on the service issuing the Green Pass, and therefore there may be difficulties,” the ministry said. “At the same time, most applications have been completed successfully and tens of thousands of people have already have their Green Pass.”
The pass has seen additional problems, with reports of thousands of people scheming to forge the pass to illegally partake in newly allowed activities.“ Every one of you can use the application tomorrow,” Netanyahu said “The Green Pass will gradually open up the country, please use it.”
Netanyahu said that Israel hoped to have 95 percent of people over the age of 50 vaccinated within 2 weeks.
“Go and get vaccinated, get the Green Pass and start to return to life,” he said.
To be allowed to open Sunday, relevant businesses must scan people for the Green Pass and only accept those carrying it.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein reportedly warned that if there were violations of the Green Pass scheme, he would not hesitate to order the economy closed again.
On Saturday, Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy said that Israel planned to also vaccinate children once the vaccine was authorized for them, but did not give a timeline.
The decisions come amid a continued decline in morbidity, particularly among high-risk groups, which is largely being credited to Israel’s rapid vaccination campaign.
