"This is a great celebration for Israel," he said on the runway of Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, as a forklift truck began unloading its cargo from a red and yellow DHL air cargo ship.
Tel Aviv, Israel:
Israel received the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine against the Coronavirus on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the end of the pandemic "imminent" and pledged to receive a first dose.
"This is a great celebration for Israel," he said on the runway of Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, as a forklift truck began unloading its cargo from a red and yellow DHL air cargo ship.
It was the first shipment of eight million doses ordered from the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer BioNTech.
It came before Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday of lights, which begins on Thursday.
"The end is in sight," Netanyahu said, referring to the disease that has afflicted 348,948 Israelis, including 2,932 deaths, according to an update on Wednesday.
"I want to be an example for them and I intend to be the first to inject this vaccine in the State of Israel."
The Pfizer vaccine has not yet received the necessary regulatory approvals for use in Israel, but Netanyahu said he expects it to obtain approval "in the very near future."
Results of Phase III clinical trials showed that the vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing symptoms of Covid-19 and produced no harmful side effects among thousands of volunteers.
Britain began vaccinating its citizens on Tuesday.
Israel has also contracted to purchase six million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the American biotechnology company Moderna that is expected to be delivered in 2021, giving a total of 14 million shots to its 9 million residents.
The Jewish state imposed a second nationwide lockdown in September, when the country recorded one of the highest per capita infection rates in the world.
Restrictions have since been gradually eased, but infection rates are rising again.
On Monday, Netanyahu's office announced a sweeping night-time curfew, but he has not yet obtained the necessary cabinet approval to implement it, and no details have been released.
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