Israel’s vaccine passports could be a model for the world

In early February I received my green-coloured vaccine certification for having two jabs in Jerusalem. Now Israel is rolling out a ‘green passport’ that should enable the vaccinated to return to semi-normal life. This could lead to freedom to travel and even entrance to places like gyms and shopping centres, while the unvaccinated will have fewer privileges. Israel has pioneered a mass vaccination program and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in January: ‘We will be able to open our economy quickly, the pubs, restaurants, gyms, schools, synagogues and theatres’. Today, Israel begins to roll out these green vaccination passports.

Israel’s path to providing the vaccinated with privileges has been a rollercoaster. The country has had three major lockdowns and even with the mass vaccination of millions, the airports remain closed. A lockdown that began for a third time in December was partially lifted in mid-February and some schools re-opened. While fifty per cent of Israel’s total population has received at least one jab of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, two million people who are eligible