Bibi: All Israelis over 16 jabbed by March

As Israel entered its third pandemic lockdown, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate all citizens over age 16 by the end of March.

“We will be the first country to emerge from the coronavirus,” he said Thursday night, according to The Jerusalem Post. “We will vaccinate all relevant populations and anyone who wants to can be vaccinated.”

He said another shipment of vaccines was expected to arrive on Sunday with many more to follow. He added that an agreement was struck with Pfizer to send more doses, and faster, making Israel a “model nation” for combating the virus.

“This is a breakthrough that will take us out of the coronavirus crisis and return us to life,” Netanyahu said, according to the news outlet. “This is how we will open the economy, go back to work, to the synagogue . . . to the lives that we love and miss.”

He added that Israel would “share with Pfizer and humanity as a whole the statistics that will help develop strategies to defeat the virus. We can do this because our health system is one of the most advanced in the world.”

The Health Ministry later clarified that only “general data,” not personal data, would be provided to Pfizer.

Netanyahu said he had spoken with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla 17 times, including in the last day, The Jerusalem Post reported.

On Thursday morning, health officials said 1,590,000 Israelis — about 17 percent of the population — had received their first jabs .

The latest lockdown, which began Friday, will last at least two weeks.