ToI’s weekly COVID update: Fauci: Israeli vaccine drive ’a model for the world’ * Anger at SNL Jewish-half quip * Israel reopens, culture return s * Western Wall injected

[Times of Israel]( [Battling COVID: Weekly Update]( Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Interview [Fauci to ToI: Israeli vaccine effort ‘a model for rest of the world’]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Top US infectious disease expert says Israel’s socialized health system eases distribution; urges PM not to let guard down if he chooses to declare victory once enough inoculated]( [Bill to give info on unvaccinated residents to cities faces final Knesset votes]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [Health union warns legislation will undermine trust in municipalities; labor union, businesses said close to deal on banning unvaccinated going in to work]( [Reporter's Notebook / Care for a shot with your shot? Tel Aviv sets up vaccine station at local bar]( By [Simona Weinglass]( [No side effects seen in dozens of Israeli kids vaccinated due to risk factors]( By [TOI staff]( [After 11-month hiatus, Israeli cultural events come roaring back, cautiously]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [SNL under fire after actor jokes that Israel only vaccinating Jews]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Weekend Update co-host Michael Che accused of anti-Semitism following crack that while Jewish state boasts vaccinating half its citizens, only the ‘Jewish half’ got the shot]( [Health minister: SNL gag that Israel only vaccinating Jews is ‘anti-Semitic lie’]( By [TOI staff and Jacob Magid]( [Alan Edelstein]( [Michael Che’s SNL joke: Not funny, not factual, definitely hurtful]( [Israel starts vaccinating its East Jerusalem residents beyond security barrier]( By [TOI staff]( [Special vaccination station set up at key Qalandiya crossing point where Palestinians holding Israeli residency will be able to get inoculated]( [Hamas launches Gaza Strip’s coronavirus vaccination drive]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Arranged by Abbas rival, 20,000 vaccine doses donated by UAE arrive in Gaza]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [Israelis pack sports venues, malls as country loosens 2-month lockdown]( By [TOI staff]( [Shoppers largely adhere to health guidelines, though some fail to maintain social distancing; virus czar warns not to ‘behave however you want’; transmission rate falls to 0.79]( [Virus transmission rate rises as ministers set to debate Purim restrictions]( By [TOI staff]( [Mayors push plan to reopen all school grades by March 1; health minister opposed]( By [TOI staff]( [Vaccine prevents 98.9% of COVID deaths, Israel’s Health Ministry data shows]( By [TOI staff]( [Officials hail ‘dramatically’ effective Pfizer shots; two weeks after second dose, vaccine also 99.2% protective against serious illness, reduces chance of hospitalization by 98.9%]( [Israeli study: 75% protection from 1st Pfizer vaccine dose, so okay to delay 2nd]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [US study suggests efficacy of 1st Pfizer, Moderna shot increases with time]( By [TOI staff]( Top Ops [Uriel Vigler]( [Take the mask off!]( [For Purim this year, I’d like to dress up as myself in the ’before:’ before masks and distancing and limited Jewish community events. Before COVID-19.]( [Shifra Dukes Livne]( [Israel’s quarantine hotels gone wrong]( [Meet some of the law-abiding Israeli citizens who are suffering the human rights violation of being locked up in a controlled facility against their will]( [CRM]( [Pregnant 32-year-old woman and her fetus die of COVID at Jerusalem hospital]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Expert says case ‘raises a red flag’ regarding dangers of coronavirus to pregnant women, especially the now-dominant British variant; 30-week pregnant woman had not been vaccinated]( [Death of mother, fetus highlights sharp rise in COVID infections among pregnant]( By [TOI staff]( [Family of pregnant woman who died of COVID say she was wary of getting vaccine]( By [TOI staff]( Healing the stones [Western Wall gets own health injections in latest preservation work]( By [TOI staff]( [Experts use syringes to fill fissures in boulders at holy site, while being careful not to upset the ecosystem of plants and birds who’ve made homes there]( [Study: Israeli-made anti-COVID nasal spray reduced infection at mass gathering]( By [TOI staff]( [In trial amid Rosh Hashanah prayers in ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, just 2 out of 83 people who were given the spray contracted virus]( [As COVID turns indoors toxic, purification startup sells a breath of fresh air]( By [Jake Epstein]( [Israeli study: Earth-protecting ozone gas effective at killing coronavirus]( By [Stuart Winer]( Times of Israel Podcast [PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 22 — Coronavirus stats, successes and sadnesses]( [Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today]( [New COVID cases worldwide down by half since early January — WHO]( By [TOI staff and AFP]( [EMT group pushes to get Holocaust survivors out of the house and vaccinated]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [United Hatzalah and Claims Conference reaching out to 20,000 homebound, offering to arrange a shot appointment and transport, often with a scenic stop along the way]( [Entry to Israel set to be limited to just 200 citizens a day next week]( By [TOI staff]( [US passes grim milestone of 500,000 COVID deaths, more than toll of 3 wars]( By [Agencies]( [Biden, Harris call for minute of silence to commemorate victims; deaths continue to mount even as cases decline and vaccination program is ramped up]( [Biden mourns 500,000 Americans dead from COVID as he balances grief and hope]( By [Jonathan Lemire and Josh Boak]( [Health Ministry: Recovered COVID patients should get single vaccine shot]( By [TOI staff]( [Recommendation comes on heels of study indicating one dose could be 75 percent effective]( [‘Green Pass’ site crashes even as Netanyahu urges Israel to adopt reopening plan]( By [TOI staff]( [65,000 Israelis miss quarantine due to Health Ministry ‘computer glitch’]( By [TOI staff]( [CRM]( More Headlines [NY summer camps can likely reopen this year, Cuomo says]( By [Shira Hanau]( [A vaccine-defiant Israeli mutation wouldn’t be surprising, ex-virus czar warns]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Former Fatah terrorist who recruited Hezbollah’s Mughniyeh dies of COVID-19]( By [Agencies]( [Grandma's guns / Great-grandma flexes for camera, hits on news anchor as gyms reopen]( By [TOI staff]( [Pandemic-battered Israeli economy contracts 2.4% in 2020]( By [TOI staff]( [Flagship New Jersey yeshiva cancels Purim celebrations due to pandemic]( By [Andrew Silow-Carroll]( [Startup survey shows hybrid office/remote work model set to continue]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Father of singer Eyal Golan, convicted of sexual offenses, dies of COVID-19]( By [TOI staff]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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