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| - Israel on Thursday reversed plans to impose a night-time curfew meant to prevent a new wave of coronavirus infections, minutes before the start of a Jewish holiday. At the start of the week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced a night-time curfew from Thursday, the first day of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. This measure was criticised by a part of the population and public health experts, who considered it ineffective in combating the pandemic. On Thursday, the government backtracked, saying "there will no new restrictions for Hanukkah" and that no new measures will be announced as long as fewer than 2,500 new Covid-19 infections are announced per day. "If the number of new cases passes 2,500 per day, we will impose new restrictions for three weeks," said a statement. Since the start of the pandemic, Israel, a country of nine million people, has recorded 351,579 Covid-19 cases, including 2,937 deaths. In the past 24 hours, just over 800 new infections were confirmed, according to the health minister. The cancellation of the night-time curfew comes the day after the first Covid-19 vaccines ordered from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech arrived in Israel. Israel has ordered 14 million doses of the vaccine -- covering seven million people, as two doses are required per person for optimal protection -- from Pfizer and US biotech firm Moderna. Netanyahu announced on Wednesday the country would start administering the vaccines from December 27. "I'm asking that every Israeli citizen be vaccinated, and to do so, requested to set an example and be the first person being vaccinated in Israel," he announced Wednesday, saying "we're bringing an end to the plague". Health ministry official Hezi Levy said on Thursday the first to be vaccinated would be medical personnel -- around 250,000 people -- then the elderly, at-risk people and their carers. These groups would be followed by teachers, soldiers and finally, the rest of the population. mib/gl/sw/dv
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