The two tier system will go into effect from Sunday onwards, when those who have had two doses of the vaccine or can prove they’ve recovered from the infection will display the certificate on their phone which will allow them to resume normal life.
“With some 43 percent of Israeli citizens inoculated with at least one shot of the jab developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the cabinet moved to permit malls, open-air markets, museums and libraries to reopen next weekend, gradually scaling back controversial restrictions brought in late December,” reports RT.
However, for people who refuse to take the vaccine, lockdown will continue indefinitely, making taking the jab de facto mandatory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the remaining people aged over 50 who haven’t taken the shot to get vaccinated.
“If those 570,000 people over 50 get vaccinated, it’s not only the last lockdown, we’ll be done with Covid, period… We’re leading the world on vaccines; we’ll be the first to emerge from the coronavirus,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israelis who don’t get vaccinated could see their identities put on a list by local authorities under a new proposal.
As we highlighted yesterday, despite initially vowing not to introduce a vaccine passport, authorities in the UK are now indicating it will be required for international travel while also refusing to rule out a domestic vaccine passport that will be required to enter public venues, restaurants and bars.
