Israel, which self-proclaimed a “vaccine group immunity test,” which will determine whether humanity will overcome Corona 19, has decided to temporarily ban international airliners to block the mutant virus.
According to local media on the 24th (hereinafter referred to as local time), the Israeli government held a ministerial meeting and approved a proposal to suspend international flights proposed by a meeting of related agencies presided over by the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister’s office explained that this is a measure to prevent the introduction of additional mutant viruses.
With this decision, takeoff and landing of all international passenger planes at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv will be banned for six days from 0:00 on the 26th to the 31st, when the third blockade ends.
The Prime Minister’s office added, “If travel is necessary due to special circumstances, it must be approved by a committee led by the Ministry of Health and Transportation.”
The ban on international airliners is one of the strongest measures taken by Israel, which has the highest rate of COVID-19 vaccination in the world, to prevent the spread of the infection and increase the effectiveness of vaccination.
Israel has secured a large volume early on condition of providing real-time vaccination data to Pfizer, recording a vaccination rate approaching 30% of the total population (approximately 9.3 million).
According to the Times of Israel, the number of people who completed the first vaccination by the afternoon of that day was 2.25 million, and about 973,000 people who completed the second vaccination.
Although the vaccination rate is the highest relative to the population, a serious situation unfolded in Israel last week, with the number of new confirmed cases exceeding 10,000 per day.
Mutant viruses were also confirmed one after another.
A mutant virus originating from the UK was confirmed in seven pregnant confirmed cases, and a mutant virus confirmation procedure is in progress for three female confirmed cases.
Accordingly, the Israeli authorities extended the period of the 3rd blockade to the end of this month, while strengthening the punishment and enforcement of quarantine rules violators.
It is also speeding up vaccination.
Recently, it was included in the vaccination target until the 40s, and vaccinations for adolescents aged 16-18 and pregnant women before college entrance examinations were also started.
Late this week, the number of vaccinations per day is approaching 200,000.
Some health ministry officials have expressed an opinion that strong containment measures, such as airport closure, should continue until early March, when 5 million vaccinations are expected to be completed, according to local channel 12 news.
Channel 13 also reported that the Ministry of Health has requested approval for the use of close surveillance measures on returnees.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military intelligence agency pointed out that there is a possibility of the emergence of a mutant virus due to the spread of vaccinations, and pointed out that continuous testing of the vaccination and recovery after confirmation is necessary.
(Yonhap News/Photo = Getty Image Korea)