Israel PM to ‘serve as example’ for nation, receive first jab of Pfizer vaccine

Israel received its first vaccine batch of eight million Pfizer BioNTech doses Wednesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intending to inspire confidence and “serve as an example” for the nation by giving himself the first jab.

Declaring the pandemic’s end was “in sight” he lauded the moment as a “great celebration for Israel” in an address at the Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, as a fork-lift truck unloaded the delicate cargo ordered from the U.S. pharmaceutical giant.

The shipment came ahead of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, which kicks off Thursday.

The country has logged 348,948 cases so far, with 2,932 deaths, according to the daily update.

“What is important to me is that Israeli citizens get vaccinated,” Netanyuhu added.

“I want to serve as an example to them and I intend to be the first to be injected with this vaccine in the state of Israel.”

The Pfizer vaccine has yet to receive the necessary regulatory approvals for use in Israel but Netanyahu said he expected it to receive clearance “in the very near” future.

The results of third-phase clinical trials showed that the vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 symptoms and did not produce adverse side effects among thousands of volunteers.

Britain approved and launched mass vaccinations as the ‘world’s first’ on Tuesday, in its biggest inoculation campaign yet.

Israel has also contracted to buy six million Covid-19 vaccine doses from US biotech firm Moderna which are expected to be delivered in 2021, giving a total of 14 million shots for its populaton of nine million.

The Jewish state imposed a second nationwide lockdown in September, when the country had one of the world’s highest per capita infection rates.

Restrictions have since been gradually eased but infection rates are again on the rise, prompting the announcement of a sweeping night curfew Monday.

So far not received the cabinet approval required for its implementation and no details have been published.

[Sourced from Agencies]