Israel, World's No.1 in Vaccination Rate, to Implement Lockdown from 8th... "Serious Spread of Variants"

Vaccination Rate at 15% of Population... COVID-19 Outbreak
Netanyahu Emphasizes "This Will Be the Last Lockdown Before Nationwide Vaccination"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Israel, known for having the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate relative to its total population in the world, announced that it will enter lockdown measures due to a severe spread of COVID-19. This decision was made as the daily confirmed cases in Israel, where variant viruses are reported to be spreading, approached 10,000, marking the second highest number since the peak in September last year. The Israeli government emphasized that this will be the last lockdown before completing nationwide vaccination by the end of next month.

According to major foreign media such as CNBC, on the 5th (local time), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at a cabinet meeting, "From the 8th, the entire country of Israel will enter lockdown measures," adding, "Schools and non-essential businesses will be closed, and residents will be restricted to staying within a 1 km radius of their homes." Israel has already implemented lockdowns twice last year, and this will be the third lockdown since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized, "The spread due to the variant virus is worsening," and "This will be the last effort." The Israeli health authorities reported that the daily confirmed cases yesterday were 9,304, the second highest number since the peak of 11,316 cases in September last year. After a lull in the spread since September, the sudden surge led to the lockdown despite Israel having the world's highest vaccination rate of 15%.

The news that Israel, ranked first in the world for vaccination rate, is starting lockdown measures has caused significant concern among health authorities worldwide. According to Israeli health authorities, about 1.4 million people have been vaccinated in Israel so far. With an average of about 140,000 vaccinations per day, it is expected that the entire population of 9.2 million in Israel will complete vaccination by the end of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.