Netanyahu congratulates 500,000th Israeli to get vaccine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the 500,000th Israeli to receive the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.

"We acted to bring millions of vaccines to Israel," said Netanyahu. "Israel is the world's champion in vaccinations," he added.

Israel's Health Ministry said Tuesday the country has vaccinated more people in nine days than have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

The country began its inoculation drive only last week.

More than 408,000 people have caught the virus in Israel. More than 3,250 have died.

Israel is hoping a mass vaccination campaign will help bring its current outbreak under control and ultimately wipe out the virus entirely.

This week the country entered its third national lockdown, with much of the economy shut down to help bring down surging infection numbers.

Israel is among the world's leading countries for coronavirus vaccinations per capita.