Who will get the vaccine first? And who won’t be vaccinated?

A Health Ministry document on the upcoming vaccination drive details how the shot will be administered. The vaccination drive is set to begin next week.

It says the vaccine will first be distributed in the following order among healthcare workers and high-risk groups:

• Hospital staff
• Health maintenance organization staff, private medical clinic staff, dentists
• Staff at geriatric and psychiatric hospitals
• Medical and nursing students who are in the clinical stage of their training
• Medics
• Nursing home residents and staff
• Israelis over 60, at the discretion of HMOs
• It gives special dispensation to elderly Israelis who aren’t in nursing homes, and their caregivers
• People with particular high-risk conditions, including lung transplant recipients

In the second stage, Israel will vaccinate patients with diabetes, morbid obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), high blood pressure, and other immunocompromised Israelis. Others with great potential exposure to the virus, including teachers, prison guards, prisoners, social workers, first responders, would also be eligible to get the shot at this point.

Then — the general population, with some exceptions: pregnant women, nursing women, women seeking to get pregnant, children and teenagers under 16, people with a history of serious allergic reactions, and those who have recovered from COVID-19.