Israelis Hopeful Mass Vaccinations, Extended Shutdown Will Finally Work

Israel on Thursday began offering coronavirus vaccinations to all its citizens, lifting the age limits previously set and allowing anyone aged 16 and up to receive the shot. Health officials have warned that over the past week there has been a significant drop in requests to receive the Pfizer inoculation, as just under two million Israelis have gotten the second vaccination out of a population of nine million. Also on Thursday, the first batches of the Russian Sputnik V shots were delivered to the West Bank, where nearly 3 million Palestinians will be inoculated. While continuing to lead the world in vaccination rates, Israel is still struggling to contain the virus’ spread, despite completing more than a month under complete lockdown. The Jerusalem government will convene later Thursday, after postponing its planned meeting Wednesday, to discuss a week-long extension of the nationwide closure. Wednesday saw a slight improvement in the nation’s test positivity rate, which dipped under 9% for the first time in over two weeks. Nearly 5,000 Israelis have died since the pandemic began, 1,500 of them in January alone, easily the deadliest month since the virus’ outbreak.