Israel Seals Off Its Main Gateway to Prevent COVID-19 Entry

Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s primary gateway, will be totally shut down on Tuesday for one week in an effort to thwart the entry of COVID-19 and its mutations from other nations. Exceptions will be made for humanitarian flights including medical treatment. Israel’s fight against the coronavirus is, at the moment, a curious mix of success and setback: its vaccination program is being touted as the most efficient in the world, rapidly providing two injections of the Pfizer drug to more than one million people and 3.7 million vaccinations in all. Despite some positive trends now beginning to appear, the rate of new infections continues to be unacceptable and seemingly unstoppable. The injection distribution has proceeded so well that health officials are preparing to open the lines to anyone age sixteen and older, with one million vaccinations planned for the coming week. The third lockdown will be in effect until January 24, unless another extension is set. The nation was jolted by the news that a number of pregnant women have been confirmed to have contracted the mutant strain from Britain, prompting a call for the immediate vaccination of pregnant women.