Total of 800,000 Israelis vaccinated against COVID-19 since start of campaign, says Netanyahu

Over 150,000 Israeli citizens received a vaccine against the coronavirus over the past day, taking the total count of those vaccinated to 800,000, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

The mass vaccination campaign in Israel kicked off on December 20, as the country has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The priority groups to get inoculated include medical workers, students of medical schools, employees of geriatric institutions and government officials. Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have already got inoculated.

"More than 150,000 Israelis got vaccinated yesterday [Wednesday], and a total of 800,000 people have already been inoculated against the coronavirus. World Champions! We will continue doing this way and become the first to get out of the pandemic, re-open our economy and return to life," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in the month, Israel entered a new COVID-19-related nationwide lockdown, as the daily number of infection cases in the country continues to grow. As of Thursday, the Israeli toll has reached 419,312 cases, including 5,253 confirmed cases over the past day.

Along with the new COVID-19 cases, a second Israeli citizen -- an 88-year-old man with chronic underlying conditions -- died on Wednesday after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )