Police checks in Jerusalem as full lockdown starts

Israel began a full lockdown early Friday to limit the spread of the coronavirus as cases have steadily risen in the past month, even as the country started rolling out vaccines to high risk populations. During the two-week lockdown, which started midnight Thursday, most schools and nonessential businesses will shut down.

Gatherings will be restricted to five people indoors and 10 outdoors, and people must remain within one kilometer of home. Deputy Police Commissioner Ziv Sagiv said he expected the lockdown to last for two weeks, but added police were "prepared for a longer period." Israel has 474,000 recorded cases of the virus and at least 3,565 deaths, according to Israel's health ministry.

On Thursday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has reached a new agreement with the Pfizer drug company that will allow Israel to vaccinate all citizens over the age of 16 by the end of March. Israel has become the world's leading vaccinator per capita, inoculating over 1.5 million people, or about 18% of its population, in just over two weeks since it began its campaign.