Israel is said to be the number one nation in the world in deploying Covid-19 vaccines, followed by the UAE. Israel has administered at least one dose of the U.S.’s Pfizer vaccine to more than 46 percent of its nine million population, and the risk of illness from Covid-19 has dropped 95.8 percent among people who received both shots, Reuters reported. On February 21, Israel reopened large swathes of its economy with the government saying the start of a return to routine has been enabled by Covid-19 vaccines administered to almost half the population. "I had two doses of vaccine at the end of January and mid February and it felt good," said Doan Thi Nga, a Vietnamese living in Jerusalem. She said she suffered some tiredness and pain in the arm after receiving the shot, but these reactions disappeared the next day. She can return to normal life and has got the "green pass" from the authorities, meaning she can go to public spaces such as markets and restaurants; and travel to other places. Nga feels safer now. Three months ago, when her family moved to Israel from Singapore, she was concerned about the way Israelis dealt with the pandemic, which "was not as good as" the Singaporeans. Pham Thanh Lan, a spa owner in Ramat Yishay, a town in the Northern District of Israel, also said she felt fine after two vaccine doses. She too, experienced brief symptoms of fatigue and pain in the injected arm. She is happy now that she can get back to work normally and go anywhere she wants. "I don't worry anymore. I hope that the vaccine will have the highest effectiveness." Awaiting his second shot early March, Nguyen Thanh Long, a technician working on a smart farm in Israel’s Beit She'an City, said he had mild ache in the arm for a day after the first shot. Long also said he believed vaccination was the best way for a country to contain Covid-19 and open the economy up. He said there was a minority in Israel who have doubts about the vaccine. The government …
[Read more...] about Middle-east Vietnamese diaspora: vaccination a relief, but it’s not over