נתניהו מתחסן בשידור חילע"מ

The vaccination campaign against COVID-19 began tonight with the vaccination of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein live at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.

"This is a great day for the State of Israel. We have been fighting for almost a year against the most severe pandemic humanity has known in 100 years.

"By the end of the month, there will be millions of vaccines here, and additional millions will come afterward.

"I have asked to be vaccinated first, together with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, in order to serve as a personal example and to encourage all of you to be vaccinated.

"We can exit this together and we will soon get started. I believe in this vaccine. Tens of thousands of people have received it successfully. The best scientists have approved it. We can get underway.."

Netanyahu and Edelstein received the Pfizer vaccine in the dining room of the hospital's main hospital tower.

At the end of the vaccination, the Health Minister said, "Today I looked at the date - December 19. On this date in 1984, my trial took place in the Soviet Union because of my desire to immigrate to Israel. Today, December 19, 2020, I have a great privilege to be Health Minister."

After receiving the jab. Netanyahu quipped: "That's one small shot for man, one huge leap for all our health. Go get vaccinated!"

"I feel great. Go get the vaccine! Now, more than ever, I'm asking everyone to follow through with the regulations. Continue washing your hands, wearing masks, and avoid mass gatherings. The sooner everyone gets vaccinated, the sooner life will return to normal - first and foremost, the economy. We'll continue investing additional resources and making more efforts to return to what we had. Our success is dependent on all of us," Netanyahu tweeted later.