JERUSALEM, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday his country signed a deal with Pfizer to receive a new batch of COVID-19 vaccines in August.
Bennett said in a statement at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that "last night we closed a deal to bring forward the next shipment of vaccines to August 1."
He said that together with existing vaccine stocks, the new batch will ensure "from this moment, a continuous inventory of vaccines in Israel."
Bennett said that in June, over 200,000 people were vaccinated, including many teenagers.
Israel is trying to halt a new outbreak of the Delta variant and launched a campaign calling teens over 12 years old to get vaccinated.
The health ministry has reported a steady rise in the number of infections. Most cases have been mild or asymptomatic. On Saturday, 261 new cases were diagnosed.
About 61 percent of the country's 9.3 million citizens have been vaccinated with at least one dose, and about 55 percent with two doses. Most of them received the Pfizer vaccine.
