'That was a small jab for a man, a huge step for the health of us all': Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially kicks of Israel's vaccination campaign with Bible puns and cheeky wordplay as he gets his publicly televised shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a coronavirus vaccine at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, on December 19, 2020, becoming the first Israeli to get the vaccine (AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP)

Netanyahu is the first person in Israel to receive the jab. He said it was important for him to lead the way in order to give skeptics confidence in the treatment.

Isreal currently has an arsenal of 2.9M doses of the vaccine to treat health care workers and elderly vulnerable people first, but an extra bunch of doses will soon be on the way, this time by Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Israel expects to have no less than 4M doses of the vaccine by the end of the year, that will be enough to treat at least 20% of the country's 9 million population, according to the government. In fact, the government hopes to immunize 60,000 people per day to hit its 2 million immunization mark before 2021.

"If everyone cooperates, keeps the rules and goes to get vaccinated, we’ll get out of this and we could well be the first country in the world to emerge from this [pandemic]. Let’s do it together,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said moments before being taken for half an hour of observation to monitor any possible allergic reactions to the vaccine.

Netanyahu is no stranger to the coronavirus that has so far infected 372,401 residents and killed 2,070. The country's longest-serving prime minister has had through close encounters of catching the infection and has had to self-isolate three times.

The next high-level figure to take the jab will be Israel's symbolic leader, President Reuven Rivlin, who will take the injection on Sunday.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is pictured at Rady Children’s Hospital before it’s placed back in the refrigerator, in San Diego, California on December 15, 2020. (Ariana Drehsler/AFP)

Netanyahu says his government has secured a total of 8 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine and 3 million of the Moderna's vaccine, meaning the Middle-Eastern Jewish nation has enough to immunize its 9 million population by mid-2021.

Netanyahu has still not said if he'll allow Palestinians to take part in Israel's vaccination program.

By: Niza Nondo