Israel- Country expands vaccination campaign to teens aged 16-18.mp4

Published on 24-Jan-2021

Israel began administering COVID-19 vaccines to teenagers aged 16-18 on Saturday, as it pushed ahead with its inoculation drive. Health officials report that a quarter of the population has now been vaccinated.

The country's largest health maintenance organisation (HMO), Clalit, kicked off the campaign in Tel Aviv. Three smaller HMOs are scheduled to follow suit.

"I'm very excited. I want to get back to normal life and it's time. I think we suffered enough and it's time to get back to normal life, you know. I'm happy to be here," shared a teenager getting the vaccine.

"We came today because it's very important to get vaccinated because we want to get rid of this pandemic. We want to get our life back so that's the reason why we are here," said the mother of a teen receiving a vaccine dose.

The expansion of the vaccination drive came days after Israel, on Tuesday, extended its third national coronavirus lockdown until the end of the month due to a surge in coronavirus infections. The tightened lockdown measures had been set to expire Thursday night, but ministers agreed to extend the restrictions until January 31.

According to the health ministry, some 2.5 millions out of Israel's nine-million-strong population have been inoculated as of Friday.