How Israel Rolled Up Its Sleeves And Became Vaccination Nation

By Nathan Jeffay, The Times of Israel January 03, 2021 2 minutes

Nurse Chava Gardner gives President Reuven Rivlin his COVID-19 vaccine dose. Photo: Mark Neyman/GPO

This article was first published by The Times of Israel and is re-posted with permission.

Millions worldwide prayed for widespread vaccination by Christmas. Israel, where the day largely goes unmarked, got the closest.

Nurses are giving shots at turbo speed, and Israel tops the global table for the proportion of the population that is vaccinated, and is fourth in total shots given. In less than two weeks, nearly 800,000 people have received their first of two shots, which represents more than 9 percent of the population.

A nurse vaccinates a woman for COVID-19, in central Israel, December 28, 2020. Photo: Gideon Sharon/ GPO

This is almost three times the next most needle-happy nation, Bahrain, and several times the population share of that in Britain, which started giving shots two weeks before Israel.

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NOTE: As of January 2, 2021, Israel has vaccinated over a million people with a first dose, now nearly four times the number of people Bahrain has inoculated.