Event the first music concert only for vaccinated - It will take place in Tel Aviv

Attendees were required to present a "green passport", a state-certified certificate indicating that they had received both doses of a vaccine more than a week before the event or that they had recovered from Covid-19 and are considered to be immune. The "passports" are valid for six months from the moment of full vaccination.

"It provides protection, but also a sense of comfort to sit among people who have been vaccinated," said Doron Zicher, a retired businessman, as he waited for Israeli singer Nurit Galron to perform at dusk in Yarkon Park.

"After a year at home in a secluded environment, it's great to go out and experience public events and activities," he said.

Israel launched this free movement system at the weekend, as economic activities reopened in the country. Nearly half of Israelis have received the first of the two required doses of vaccine.

The outdoor concert in Tel Aviv on Wednesday was one of the first in a program to restart cultural events in the country, limiting participation to people who have been vaccinated or immunized after being infected with the disease.

Gyms, swimming pools, theaters and hotels are only open to holders of green passports. Indoors, strict capacity limits are imposed and the rules of social distance must be observed. Such programs are likely to be considered by other countries wishing to reopen businesses as their own populations are vaccinated en masse.

Health officials in Israel, which is leading the global vaccination race using the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, hope the program will serve as an incentive for vaccine skeptics. Covid-19.

Israeli studies show that the Pfizer vaccine reduces the transmission of the virus.

"If I had to go to a cultural venue where they did not ask for a green passport, I would not go," said Michal Porat, 66. "I want to know and be sure that all the people next to me are already immunized and vaccinated and I would not trust people who are not"