COVID-19 vaccination in Israel

[needs update] Coordinated vaccination drives by the country's health authorities, utilizing databases of personal information for Israeli patients, contributed to Israel's success in vaccinating a high proportion of its population in a short period of time, relative to the rest of the world.

[8] Early into the programme, Israel provided Pfizer with medical information about its citizens as part of a deal for the country to receive a supply COVID-19 vaccines from the company.

[9] The initial campaign for vaccinations focused on the elderly (people over the age of 60) and other patient groups with a high risk of severe illness in the case of infection, such as those with preexisting conditions, as well as employees of the healthcare sector.

[6][10] After eight weeks, nearly 85% of health workers at a hospital in Jerusalem (Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center) were vaccinated.

[13] As of early February 2021, at least 90% of Israelis over the age of 60 received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and there was a 41% drop in confirmed infections in the country compared with the previous month.

[19][10] Israel passed a law allowing government workers to identify and contact those who have not been vaccinated, in order to convince them to do so.

[34] Data from the national campaign showed there to be a strong effect of waning immunity from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after 6 months.

On 29 August 2021, Israel's coronavirus czar announced that Israelis who had not received a booster shot within six months of their second dose would lose access to the country's green pass vaccine passport.

This included trouble with scheduling appointments, loosely interpreted eligibility early on which led to supply problems, and lack of sufficient distribution to less populated villages and Arab-Israeli communities.

The challenges were addressed via a mix of messaging, incentives, extensions to the initial vaccine delivery system, and other measures.

[46] According to Business Insider, Israeli citizens of any origin as well as Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem were eligible for the vaccine, with people older than 60, healthcare workers, and the "especially vulnerable" being prioritized.

[52][53] As of March 2021, Haredi Jews and Arab-Israelis had a lower rate of vaccination, compared to other sections of the population in Israel.

[55] According to officials from Israel's Ministry of Health, two contributing factors to a reluctance to receive the second dose are misinformation and a fear of side effects.