But Sharon Alroy-Preis says no evidence any of the variants can bypass inoculation; nearly 3 million Israelis received first shot, with 1.7 million getting both doses

Emirati officials reportedly contact PM's office to protest remark by Sharon Alroy-Preis that in '2 weeks of peace [with the UAE] more people died than in 70 years of war'

Health Ministry says California mutated strain detected in Israel as man returning from LA infects four others; another flyer from Dubai reportedly gave virus to 180 people

Sharon Alroy-Preis says 'there is a certain change in the nature of the pandemic,' also attributes surging ultra-Orthodox infection rates to British strain

Studies of hundreds of thousands of Israeli vaccinees provide real-life info on efficacy; but health official also warns 17% of current serious cases had already gotten 1st shot

Health minister says 1,817,000 people have received initial shot of vaccine as rollout of 2nd dose begins; health official says impact of inoculations should be seen in 10 days

Health Ministry's Alroy-Preis says no private information will be handed over to pharma giant, data will be used to assess when herd immunity achieved, infection curve broken

Police to deploy across country to enforce new restrictions beginning midnight; Health Ministry figures suggest slight slowdown in spread of virus

Sharon Alroy-Preis says unclear what impact vaccination has on COVID variant, but says it may offer less protection against mutation

Contradicting his own ministry, Edelstein says he doesn't know about earlier shipments, though US-based firm said doses would arrive this month; calls to tighten lockdown now