Israel is still breaking records, for good and not good: on Tuesday, the Jewish State broke records in both categories, having vaccinated about half a million Israelis against the coronavirus but also having announced more than 5,000 citizens were diagnosed with the virus over the past 24 hours.
Half Million Israelis Receive COVID-19 Vaccine
Just nine days into Operation “Lend a Shoulder” to inoculate the population, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said more than 115,000 citizens were vaccinated Monday and in total, 495,000 were vaccinated by the end of the day Tuesday.
A total of 412,398 Israelis have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic — still, finally, fewer than the number of those already vaccinated.
But despite a third nationwide lockdown that began Sunday at 5 pm and the launch of a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign the battle against the virus continues to be a fierce, complex challenge.
On Tuesday evening at 7:15 pm the Health Ministry reported there were 5,487 new cases of the virus diagnosed within the past 24 hours out of a total 99,980 tests that were carried out on Monday, resulting in a 5.6 percent positivity rating.
At present there are a total of 39,989 Israelis who are actively sick with the coronavirus; of those 623 are listed in serious condition, 200 are in critical condition and 158 patients are currently on life support, using respirators to survive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, set for the first week in January 2021, has been postponed for the second time in the past month.
The trip is being delayed due to the ongoing national coronavirus lockdown, according to the Hebrew-language Walla! News site.
The prime minister was originally scheduled to visit the Gulf states at the end of December; it was, however, postponed due to a major political crisis in Israel that subsequently resulted in the dissolution of the Knesset and scheduling of new elections in March, the country’s fourth trip to the polls in two years.
The trip – whenever it finally does take place – will make history as the first announced official visit to the two Gulf Arab states by an Israeli prime minister.