Some 82% of doctors say they plan to be vaccinated.
Thousands of medical professionals, as well as politicians, will receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Sunday morning, following the vaccination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Saturday night.
Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz will be vaccinated on Sunday.
Joining him will be President Reuven Rivlin at Hadassah-University Medical Center and coronavirus commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash at a Maccabi health clinic in Herzliya.
In a survey conducted by the Israel Medical Association, 82% of doctors said they would take the coronavirus vaccine when offered.
“We are coming to this vaccine with the understanding and hope that it will end this cursed pandemic,” said Zeev Feldman, president of the association. “We are determined to end this. The only way to do that is to vaccinate.”
So far, around 600,000 Pfizer vaccines have arrived in Israel and several million more are meant to come before the end of the month.
On Saturday night, Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy told The Jerusalem Post that shipments are meant to arrive at a pace of about twice a week.
After medical personnel, seniors over the age of 60 and those with pre-existing medical conditions that put them at high risk for developing a serious condition of the virus will be prioritized for vaccination. This general campaign is expected to start on Monday at health funds across Israel.
Israel has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus. So far, 3,074 people have died from the disease – 40 people in the last day.
The number of serious cases has been on the rise in recent weeks, as well, nearing 400.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post