Jerusalem, Dec 21 (IANS): Israel's central bank has launched a special edition of coin to honor the country's medical staff for their fight against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

There are over two million of newly designed 5-new-shekel coins that will be available in the markets starting from Tuesday, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the Bank of Israel as saying.

The special coin was launched at a ceremony held at the bank's headquarters here on Monday, in the presence of President Isaac Herzog, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz.

The design of the coin was chosen in a competition, featuring a doctor examining a patient.

During the ceremony, Herzog said that "the last two years have proven what an excellent public health system we have, with exceptional dedication and commitment in an uncompromising struggle for every patient, under complex conditions and uncertainty".

"Considering the depth of the crisis and its enormous economic consequences, the efforts by workers of the medical and health systems also contributes greatly to the resilience and survival of the Israeli economy," Yaron added.

Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, Israel has reported a total of 1,356,579 confirmed Covid cases and 8,232 deaths.