While the whole world has been affected by Coronavirus, or “Covid-19”, beginning at the end of 2019, here we are in 2021 and we are still grappling with the horrible effects of this global pandemic. Israel has been no exception and this issue has caused the county to suffer sever health, social and economic consequences since. As we move into a new year, many are wondering what the 2021 Covid in Israel update is as we hopefully move out of this dark moment of history.
The last tourist to have entered Israel was last March, in what was supposed to be a record year for travel to the Holy Land. We never dreamed we would go through the rest of 2020 without a single visitor. Since that time, there have been three national lockdowns in which not only were visitors not welcomed to enter the borders, but neither were Israeli’s allowed to freely shop, visit friends, work, dine, worship or even visit a park.
While at the start Israel was praised for its handling of controlling the virus, by fall it became apparent that Israel was also no immune to the devastation of the virus. As of today, 456,000 cases of coronavirus have been documented within Israel, with about 3500 deaths. There are only about 8.8 million people in Israel, so this has been a rather large proportion of the population to have gotten the illness.
Unfortunately, 2021 COVID cases have not improved yet. Currently, Israel is again in a complete lockdown as cases again reach around 7,000 new cases per day. Only essential work is allowed to continue, which is strictly defined as being related to people getting food, medicine, medical care, and emergency services for their homes if needed. Residents are not allowed to leave the proximity of their home except to exercise or walk a dog and are not allowed to drive to do so.
With all of the war and terrorism that Israel has experienced, this has ranked upon its most dark times.
But there is hope!
While Israel is currently in a lockdown to help control the spread, they are also leading the way in vaccinating their population against the virus. They currently have vaccinated over one million of its population, working diligently to make sure no doses go to waste. Immanuel Tour’s owners and operators Phillip and Berit Meyers and their daughter Susan have received their first doses.
Israel has been working to vaccinate so quickly that they are actually running out of vaccines, made by Pfizer, but now have six million doses of Moderna’s vaccine on order which should begin to arrive shortly in the country. 2021 COVID numbers should start to plummet, especially in severe illness.
There is hope that the entire population will be completely vaccinated no later than April of this year.
So what does this mean for future tours of Israel?
It means there there is hope! There is always hope in the Lord, but we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time there have even been some government discussions about what that will look like in the future, though details are still very vague, but it’s progress.
As of now, we are very hopeful that there will be tours entering Israel by summer of 2021 at least from countries considered to have controlled the virus and labeled as “green”. We are not sure what countries those will be yet, but vaccination success will be apart of that.
There are currently no stipulations being presented on what a traveler into the country will have to prove in order to enter Israel when it is allowed. We have always recommended travel insurance, especially medical and evacuation insurance, but that may become required with proof it will cover the participant in case of COVID. We also encourage participants who are obtaining cancellation insurance for future tours to be sure that that situation is still covered, as some have put limits on its coverage, excluding it.
There have currently been no requirements of personal vaccination proof required, but it is still a possibility. We will keep you informed and give information as soon as it is available. Please check on our 2021 COVID ISRAEL TRAVEL INFORMATION page for more information as it becomes available.
Immanuel Tours continues to strive to be the leader in Christian Holy Land Travel, making our service the highest caliber in the industry. We continue to take inquiries for 2021 and beyond an encourage that if you have any interest in visiting Israel, you contact us right away, as demand is proving to be increasing as the light at the end of the tunnel brightens. There is no risk as we offer free quotations and take no money until 120 days from the start of the tour (some conditions apply).
We hope to be welcoming you back to Israel very soon! In the meantime, we pray you and your loved ones stay healthy and that the Lord will give us perseverance to see this trial through in His grace!
