With 40% vaccinated, Israel reopens restaurants and bars

We are coming to life, delcares Netanyahu

Israel took another step towards post-pandemic normalcy yesterday, opening restaurants, bars and cafes to vaccinated “green pass” holders, with about 40 per cent of the population fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

“We are coming to life,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, as he cut into a pastry at a Jerusalem cafe, according to a video posted on Facebook.

Israel, which launched its vaccination campaign in December, has given the recommended two jabs of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine to more than 3.7 million of its roughly nine million people.

Nearly five million have received one shot. The country launched its green pass programme last month, allowing controlled numbers of people with proof of full vaccination — or those who had recovered from Covid-19 — to enter gyms, pools and other facilities.

Green pass holders

But Sunday’s slate of reopenings has been highly anticipated, as it marks the restoration of services that touch the daily lives of many Israelis.

Restaurants are now permitted to resume indoor dining up to 75 per cent capacity, with a cap of 100 people and with tables two metres (6.5 feet) apart.

Green pass holders can also now have a drink at a bar — but cannot yet strike up a chat with a stranger sitting on the stool beside them, with rules requiring an empty seat between patrons, unless they live together.

Large numbers of students, many of whom have been out of classrooms for months, will also start returning to school this week, while hotel event halls, sport venues and places of worship are re-opening to green pass holders, with capacity limits in place.