Israel Scrapping COVID Vaccine Green Pass

Following two years of tough pandemic restrictions on companies, Israel is finally scrapping the Covid vaccine green pass system. The final choice to eliminate the vaccine pass arrives just days after tens of thousands of people began pouring into Jerusalem to call for an end to the country’s Covid limitations.

Israel’s Covid-19 ‘green pass’ program will be phased out shortly, along with the vaccination card, as authorities cite to a dramatic drop in severe cases and the conclusion of the Omicron outbreak.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared the action, claiming that “the wave of the Omicron has broken” and that the incidence of serious illnesses has seen a “sharp drop.”

“Earlier today I had a discussion with the Minister of Health and other officials. We will stop using the green pass,” he remarked in a statement, stressing that “in the coming days,” other restrictions will be loosened.

The pass system, which was in force for most of the previous year, compelled Israelis to produce proof of immunisation to visit a large list of indoor public locations, including pubs, hotels, restaurants, gyms, and even places of worship.

Bennett advocated for a progressive lifting of limitations during a conference on the future of Israel’s pandemic strategy earlier on Thursday, stating that the coronavirus Omicron strain has attained its peak in the country. According to the Jerusalem Post, while the green pass will be pushed out fully by March 1, individuals visiting nursing homes as well as other high-risk facilities would still be needed to test negative for the virus.

The final choice to eliminate the vaccine pass arrives just days after tens of thousands of people began pouring into Jerusalem to call for an end to the country’s Covid limitations, with protestors titling the march a “freedom convoy” comparable to those seen in Canada in recent weeks, and some waving Canadian flags.

Bennett has pledged to concentrate on economic restoration since gaining office last June, following two years of tough pandemic restrictions on companies. The PM, on the other hand, shut off practically all travel into Africa very instantly when the highly transmissible Omicron strain was discovered, although he has thereafter frequently stated the need to tone down Israel’s Covid restrictions.