Nathan Jeffay is The Times of Israel's health and science correspondent
A nurse prepares a vaccine at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, December 31, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Millions worldwide prayed for widespread vaccination by Christmas. Israel, where the day largely goes unmarked, got the closest.
Nurses are giving shots at turbo speed, and Israel tops the global table for the proportion of the population that is vaccinated, and is fourth in total shots given. In less than two weeks, nearly 800,000 people have received their first of two shots, which represents more than 9 percent of the population.
This is almost three times the next most needle-happy nation, Bahrain, and several times the population share of that in Britain, which started giving shots two weeks before Israel.