'You can't pretend that you don't know anyone anymore'

‘Very strange, very nice’: Israelis shed masks outdoors after vaccine victory

Not everyone is relinquishing their face coverings after mandate revoked, however, as concerns linger over variants

Israelis throwing face masks as they celebrate the end of the mask mandate outdoors in Jerusalem, on April 18, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israelis throwing face masks as they celebrate the end of the mask mandate outdoors in Jerusalem, on April 18, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

AFP — Israelis stepped into the streets without masks on Sunday for the first time in a year, a key milestone as the country vaccinates its way out of a coronavirus nightmare.

“It’s very strange but it’s very nice,” said Eliana Gamulka, 26, after getting off a bus near the busy Jerusalem shopping boulevard of Jaffa Street and removing her face covering.

“You can’t pretend that you don’t know anyone any more,” she smiled.

With over half the population fully vaccinated in one of the world’s fastest anti-COVID-19 inoculation campaigns, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday that masks would no longer be required in public outdoor spaces.

For Gamulka, a project manager, the good news came at the perfect time: just two weeks before her wedding.

It will be “very nice to celebrate with everyone, now without masks,” she said. “The pictures will be great! I’m very relieved. We can start living again.”

An Israeli man cuts through a huge face mask as Israelis celebrate the end of the outdoor mask mandate, in Jerusalem, April 18, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The vaccination of close to five million people has sent Israel’s coronavirus caseload tumbling from some 10,000 new infections per day as recently as mid-January, to around 200 cases a day.

That has allowed the re-opening of schools, bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings — although masks are still required in indoor public spaces.

And even before Health Minister Yuli Edelstein’s announcement came into effect, punters in the popular bars of Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market were mask-free and smiling on Thursday evening.

Yet on Sunday, office worker Ester Malka said she wasn’t quite ready to let down her guard.

People on a street in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on April 18, 2021, after authorities announced that face masks for COVID-19 prevention were no longer needed outside. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

“We’re allowed, but I’m still afraid, I got used to (wearing a mask),” she said.

“I feel like it’s part of my life. We’ll see what happens when everyone has taken them off. If it goes well for a couple of months, then I’ll remove mine.”

Israel just months ago had the world’s highest infection rate, a coronavirus outbreak that left 6,300 people dead among 836,000 cases.

But the Jewish state sent its coronavirus caseload tumbling after striking a deal for a vast stock of Pfizer-BioNTech jabs.

Students receive COVID-19 vaccine injections, at Amal high school in the southern city of Beersheba, March 17, 2021. (Flash90)

In exchange, it agreed to pay above market price and share data it gathers on the recipients, using one of the world’s most sophisticated medical data systems.

Since December, some 53 percent of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received both doses of the vaccine, including around four-fifths of the population aged over 20.

“There’s no better advertisement for Pfizer,” said Shalom Yatzkan, a computer programmer who had been in quarantine after catching the virus.

People pose for a picture on a street in Jerusalem, on April 18, 2021, after Israeli authorities announced that face masks for COVID-19 prevention were no longer required outdoors (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

“I was sick for three days, I had neck pains and felt weak,” he said as he walked through central Jerusalem. “I just hope the new variants don’t catch up with us.”

The situation in Israel is in stark contrast to the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip, where infection rates remain high and vaccinations are low.

Rights groups have urged Israel to supply vaccines to the 4.8 million Palestinians living there, but Israel says that falls to the the Palestinian Authority.

It has, however, vaccinated over 105,000 Palestinian workers who hold permits for employment in Israel and the settlements.

Youths gather on a street in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on April 18, 2021, after authorities announced that face masks for COVID-19 prevention were no longer needed outside.(JACK GUEZ / AFP)

In Jerusalem, Gamulka was enjoying the simple pleasure of newfound freedoms.

“It’s nice not to have something on your face anymore,” she said.

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