JERUSALEM (VINnews) — For the first time in over a year and a half, Israel is opening its borders to individual tourists who are vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the virus. Since March 2020 most tourists have not been able to enter Israel, crippling the country’s 22 billion NIS tourism industry (2018 figures).
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The current move is an attempt to revive the industry and was welcomed by Israel’s Tourism Ministry which stated that “throughout the global corona pandemic, interest in visiting Israel has remained high and Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has worked hard to find creative solutions to facilitate the safe return of tourists.”
In recent months, the ministry has initiated a trial program with tourists from the USA and Europe “visiting Israel’s religious, historical, cultural and natural sites within a safe and tourist-friendly environment.”
The current regulations will allow entry of all tourists from countries which are not defined as “red” due to high infections rates. At present there are no countries in this category. Additionally, the tourists must have been vaccinated in the 180 days before they entered Israel and must have a 14-day period elapse after their second or third shot before they can enter the country.
Visitors who received the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine will also be allowed to enter the country after undergoing a serology test in addition to the PCR tests required before entry to Israel.
In the past few months, a limited number of tourists arrived in organized groups. First-degree relatives of Israeli citizens or residents were able to apply for permits to travel to the country.
Israel has suffered four waves of COVID-19 and partial blame has been ascribed to various different strains entering the country either via the few tourists arriving or via Israelis who visited countries infected by different strains. Health officials are wary about the reopening for tourists, with former Health Ministry director-general Gabi Barabash claiming that “We shouldn’t test too much the immunity we’ve built up here.”.
“I’m not in a position to say [it’s] wrong or right but I’m worried,” Barabash added in a Times of Israel interview. “The concern is that you are going to import patients who are apparently immune, but not actually immune.”
Barbash is particularly concerned about Russia, where daily COVID deaths have just hit a new high, especially as he doubts the reliability of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Israel has decided to recognize the vaccine from November 15, despite it not having the stamp of approval of the World Health Organization, in an apparent diplomatic gesture to Russia.
In contrast to Barbash, Prof. Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease specialist at Sheba Medical Center, is not particularly worried.
“The airport is not a weak spot today, and hasn’t been a weak spot since we reached high vaccine coverage,” he told Times of Israel.
Leshem said the coronavirus is transmitted at Israel’s malls, schools, restaurants, concerts and elsewhere. Incoming flights are one of many virus vectors, but unless the percentage of arrivals who are infected and go undetected gets high, it won’t significantly affect virus rates, he believes.
“Most countries have been much more permissive than Israel. There’s no need to keep on hitting the travel industry. We can accept the risk based on the assumption that there is still some community transmission in Israel, and arrivals from abroad will just add to this slightly.”
Israel has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 infections, with just 0.68% of those tested Sunday found to be infected. The number of serious cases in the country has dropped to 219 from over 750 a month ago. Mortality rates have also dropped over this period.
There were no new deaths reported on Sunday and the toll remained at 8,100 for the entire pandemic.