Israel's COVID-19 vaccination campaign to begin Dec. 27

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel will begin vaccinating the public against the coronavirus on Dec. 27, with plans to inoculate 60,000 people daily.

The state of play: Netanyahu said in a press conference alongside Israeli health officials that the country has received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine doses, with more expected to arrive on Thursday.

• He asked that all Israeli citizens be vaccinated, and said he would be the first person to get the vaccine to set an example for the rest of the country.
• The Israeli Health Ministry will develop "a green passport plan" that will allow those with vaccine documentation to enter public spaces.
• "This will also encourage vaccinations and help us to quickly restore normality, to simply change the picture," Netanyahu said.

By the numbers: Israel has reported over 351,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,934 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.