Netanyahu: If final 570,000 Israelis over 50 get vaccinated, we’ll be done with COVID

Speaking to Channel 12 News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says 570,000 people over 50 who have not yet vaccinated will decide whether the current lockdown is Israel’s last.

“That is where the fatalities are, nearly 100 percent, that’s where the seriously ill are, nearly 100%,” he says. “When they go to the hospitals they block them for others, so the young start to get ill and some die.

“We need the utmost national effort…to vaccinate these 570,000 people… Go get vaccinated, not just for your health but for all of our health… When they’re vaccinated, there’ll be no more need for lockdowns.”

He calls the cabinet decision to start reopening Israel “wonderful news… The cabinet approved my green passport [framework],” he says. “In two stages… people with green passports will be able to go to the movies, to soccer and basketball matches — and later to restaurants and on foreign flights — and those who don’t vaccinate won’t be able to.”

He explains: “I want first and foremost to protect those who are vaccinated, and to encourage those who haven’t vaccinated.”

“We’ll be the first in the world to get out [of Covid],” he says.

“If those 570,000 people over 50 get vaccinated, it’s not only the last lockdown, we’ll be done with COVID. Period… We’re leading the world on vaccines; we’ll be the first to emerge from the coronavirus.”