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The first correct decision for Israel was not to spend money on the first vaccines. The country’s authorities do not publicly disclose how much they have paid for the vaccines developed by the US company Pfizer and its German partner BionTech. An anonymous source says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “pays $ 30 for a single dose of the vaccine, which is almost double than in other countries.”
A statement issued by Pfizer states that, in cooperation with Israel, the pharmaceutical company “applies a pricing formula based on the quantity of vaccine and delivery times,” but did not want to reveal further details.
In addition, Israel has offered pharmaceutical companies a model of rapid population vaccination that could serve as a model for other countries: the surprisingly successful results of a small state with a universal health care system, a centralized patient database and the technological capabilities to offer a digital distribution network.
Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein says that in an economic context, even more vaccines is a reasonable and necessary expense that will definitely pay off.
“Basically, we told Pfizer, Moderna, and other pharmaceutical companies that if we become one of the first countries to launch mass vaccines, these manufacturers will see results very soon. This is a very win-win result, everyone wins. We are one country. And I was sure it would be better to be one of the first as soon as the vaccine was developed, because from a commercial point of view, manufacturers in small countries like Israel will not even look ahead, “the minister of education told Reuters. Israeli health.
Of course, the vaccination campaign did not escape criticism and difficulties.
Human rights defenders were bothered by the fact that Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been forced to wait a long time to receive vaccines. 21 percent Arabs, who make up the Israeli population, were initially extremely skeptical about the vaccine.
Netanyahu’s opponents accuse the right-wing Likud party of using the vaccination campaign for political purposes in hopes of greater voter support in the March 23 elections, when in reality the current government does not have a long-term strategy. to neutralize the effects of COVID-19. Of course, the Israeli authorities deny such accusations.
Although Israel is currently living under a third quarantine and the country is facing not only a recession but also rising unemployment, it has so far managed to avoid more serious economic problems.
Distribution schemes
Israel, where more than 460 thousand. More than 3,500 people died from coronavirus cases, they began to actively take care of the possible vaccine well in advance, and last June it became one of the first countries to reach an agreement with Moderna.
Israel became the third country in the world to approve the Modern vaccine, an American biotech company said late Monday.
The Israeli Health Ministry has asked for 6 million. Dosage of the “Moderna” vaccine, the company announced.
In Israel, the vaccination campaign was launched on December 20 using a previously approved Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
According to the research website “Our World in Figures”, Israel, with a population of 9 million, leads the world in terms of the number of people vaccinated per 100 inhabitants, followed by Bahrain and the United Kingdom.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Tuesday that the first of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine needed to build immunity has already been injected by about 1.37 million. people.
However, the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day, according to data released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday, has surpassed 8,000 for the first time since September. limit.
“I remind you: a person is considered vaccinated one week after the second dose,” Edelstein wrote on his Twitter account. – Until we get to this period, the number of cases is growing particularly fast. So there is no alternative but universal and urgent quarantine. “
“Modern” the first 100 thousand. Doses have already been delivered to Israel.
In November, Israel announced similar agreements with AstraZeneca and Pfizer, and the first shipment of Pfizer vaccines arrived on December 9.
In Israel, workers move vaccines from large refrigerated boxes to small, specially insulated pizza-size boxes, allowing vaccines to be distributed in smaller quantities and transported safely to remote areas.
This approach, according to the Israeli authorities, was welcomed by Pfizer.
The vaccines are distributed by SLE, the logistics division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and are stored in an underground storage facility near Israel’s main airport. Thirty large freezers, where the temperature reaches 70 degrees below zero, have more than 5 million. dose of vaccine.
SLE staff pack them in smaller quantities, a hundred, and then transport them to about 400 vaccination centers, explains Adam Segal, SLE’s head of logistics and operations.
This, according to officials, allows vaccination processes to be carried out across the country, facilitating access not only to larger centralized health centers, but also to smaller clinics.
Universal healthcare
The Universal Health System, which obliges all the country’s inhabitants to cover the costs of health care with the Health Organization Fund and operates on a digital network at the national level, continues to be involved in the process.
Ran Balicer, head of Clalit’s innovation department, says Israel has improved its digital data infrastructure to include the entire population of the country.
“For this reason, it is quite easy to name and reach the required target population, as these are the tasks that we face every day,” said Balicer, chairman of the government’s advisory council of experts on coronavirus.
Managing around 150 thousand. vaccinations per day in clinics and specialized facilities, Israel vaccinates people over the age of sixty, health workers and Israelis with comorbidities as a priority issue against coronavirus.
Haifa even has mobile vaccination stations where you can get vaccinated without getting out of the car.
“I really wanted to finally get rid of the pressure and anxiety that accompanies me all the time, I want to be free again, I want to finally stop worrying,” Tamar Shachnai, a 76-year-old Israeli psychologist, told reporters.
One week after the start of the vaccination campaign, he received an instant message with clear instructions from his GP, signed up, and received the first of two doses of the vaccine.
Shachnai was vaccinated at a center set up at the Jerusalem Sports Arena, where more than 500 people are vaccinated for half a day. At the end of the day, a score of young people gather in the sand in the hope of getting vaccinated.
Israel has also established vaccination centers in Arab cities, says Ayman Saif, anti-coronavirus coordinator for Israel’s Ministry of Health. This decision was made in response to criticism that very few Israeli Arabs are being vaccinated.
He said that some Israeli Arabs initially did not know if they wanted to get vaccinated, possibly misled by liars on social media, so the government decided to actively launch a campaign to combat misinformation about the side effects of vaccines.
Palestinian health official Yasser Boyzeh estimates that Palestinians will begin receiving the vaccine in February through the World Health Organization’s vaccination plan for poor and middle-income countries.
The Palestinian autonomy, with limited control of the West Bank and its own health care system, is also seeking contacts with private pharmacists.
According to Edelstein, Israel had an interest in ensuring that the Palestinian population also received vaccines and was open to discussions about additional vaccines as soon as Israel’s own needs were met. Netanyahu representatives declined to comment on Reuters.
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