Record Vaccination Pace Continues in Israel

Israel on Monday celebrated 5 million vaccinated citizens, continuing its encouraging trend of fewer coronavirus infections, serious cases and deaths. While “only” 3.8 million Israelis have received both Pfizer shots required to obtain nearly full protection from the virus, the inoculation pace has enabled most places of business and most schools to open their doors in some capacity. Israel’s test positivity rate has also declined in recent days, as only 4% of all those tested for the virus on Monday returned positive results. After reopening most of the country on Sunday, health officials are warily monitoring the situation, and have warned that a renewed wave of infections is possible, and may require another nationwide lockdown.