Israel has received the first shipment of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. On Sunday, Israel’s president Ruby Rivlin will get the vaccine at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem. Israel’s health ministry has mounted a concerted campaign on tv, radio, and in the newspapers encouraging Israelis to take the vaccine. Reportedly, by April 60 percent of the country will be vaccinated. Leading rabbis in Israel have told their followers to take the vaccine when it becomes available. Israel’s medical workers and those at risk, like the elderly in assisted living facilities, will be the first to receive the vaccine.
Yair Lapid, of Yesh Atid, and head of the opposition, criticized PM Netanyahu for posing with the Pfizer vaccines as if he alone was responsible for bringing the vaccine to Israel. “He’s more interested in gaining political capital than is fighting the Covid-19,” said Lapid.
This comes as Israel’s C-19 infection rate has been rising steadily. Nearly 3,000 new infections were reported in the last 24-hours, raising the percentage to nearly 4% of those tested. Israeli health authorities are talking about imposing another lockdown next week. Some Indoor malls have stated they will ignore the government’s closure.
Meanwhile, ‘street stores’ will remain open. to further confuse the situation, the government is talking about opening health studios. Pilates studios have been open for six weeks under the rubric that they provided rehab and helped prevent the virus through exercise.So far between 500 and 600 health studios have closed and some will not be able to reopen due to the debts incurred during the coronavirus closures.
2892 Israelis tested positive for C-19 in the last 24 hours. As of now, 360,630 Israelis have been infected, with 39,209 per million, 139 intubated, 3014 deaths with 722 per million, while 464 critical cases were reported with 71,062 active cases.
Another Israeli possible Israeli breakthrough may help prevent C-19. According to Ynet news, “Israeli scientists find ultraviolet lights kill coronavirus. Project leader Prof. Hadas Mamane says TAU researchers discovered it is 'quite simple' to kill virus using cheap and energy efficient LED bulbs, believes technology will be available for widespread use in near future “ The research has shown that a LED bulb,, the sort used in water filtration systems, can eliminate the C-19 virus. The researchers say that the light can be installed in air-filtration systems in elevators, hospitals, supermarkets and other places and kill the C-19 virus as it is exposed to the LED light.
Politics. One pundit pointed out that Bernard Malamud once wrote, “There is no such thing as an apolitical Jew.” In Israel, said the pundit, that adage is in bold and underlined. Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu, facing the 26th week of protests against him, has pointedly ignored his alternate prime minister Benny Gantz who is the minister of defense. Netanyahu appointed a new head of the Mossad, without consulting with Gantz. New elections, according to the Times Of Israel, are inevitable. The government automatically dissolves next Dec 23rd if a budget is not passed. Analysts say there is no chance Gantz and Netanyahau will reach another compromise that will head off new elections. The fourth elections in less than 2 years. Critics say that Netanyahu is maneuvering any way he can to stay out of jail. His trial is scheduled to resume in February.
Popular politician Gideon Saar broke off from Netanyahu’s Likud last week. He has so far attracted some from the Likud and other parties and is now, according to polls, nearly even with the Likud in the polls. “Another knight in shining armor” said one pundit. “First Gantz, now Saar.” According to the pundits, Saar is yet another in a long list of politicians who appear on the horizon with talk of reforms. Most, like Gantz, streak through the skies like a meteor and disappear into the far reaches of the universe never to be heard from again. Saar, however, has been around for years and ran against Netanyahu for leadership of the Likud.
The government, in an effort to alleviate the harsh economic conditions, has dropped the prime rate on mortgages, saving mortgage holders nearly a hundred dollars a month. But, the dollar shekel exchange rate remains in Israel’s favor. The strong shekels is trading at 3.25 to the dollar.
Israel has been inundated with a severe winter’s rain. Some locations in Israel have received more than 100 mm within a few hours. The Knerret (Sea of Galilee) has risen nearly 4 cm.
Hanukkah has been weird,” said one youngster. Families have been advised to stay apart. Some children keep their children away from their grandparents as a way to keep them from coming in contact with the C-19. Only a small number of Israelis are ignoring the health ministry regulations.
So far, Jews around the world have been celebrating Hanukkah, the festival of light, where oil candles miraculously for eight days without being refilled. These days we have the light, but Covid-19 is still with us, with no miraculous cure in sight.
