Netanyahu on corona vaccine: we see the light at the end of the tunnel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein held a joint press conference on Friday to address the expected delivery of some eight million doses of Pfizer’s candidate vaccine, assuming it is effective. they had reached an agreement with Pfizer to receive enough doses to vaccinate four million citizens. An interim review of the Pfizer vaccine found it to be at least 90% effective. Friday’s briefing came at the same time that the Health Ministry reported an increase in morbidity. Some 817 people were diagnosed with the new virus on Thursday, 2.1% of those tested. The reproduction rate (R) rose to one on Friday, an average of the rates of the general society (0.94), the Utlra-Orthodox community (0.92) and the Arab sector (1.07). The government is discussing the implementation of new restrictions to help contain the spread of the virus, including night closings, increased fines and increased number of red zones. More grades and additional trade were supposed to open on Tuesday, but the Health Ministry had said that unless the breeding rate is less than 0.8, no further relief could be implemented. A decision on the next steps is supposed to be made next week at the coronavirus cabinet meeting. “This is a great day for the State of Israel, a great day on the road to victory over the coronavirus,” Netanyahu said. “At the moment we are signing the agreement with Pfizer. The ambition is for the supply to start in January and the supply to increase. It depends on the approval of the US and Israeli health authorities.” Our national mission is to allow the vaccination of every person in Israel, “he continued.” I am working with my colleagues around the world so that we can get the vaccine together with the main countries of the world. “

He noted that the country has agreements with other “promising companies” and is working on more. Netanyahu said: “Today we see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Edelstein also welcomed the signing of the agreement, but cautioned that the Israelis must not become complacent. “There is no vaccine for complacency,” he said, reminding Israelis to follow him. Regulations of the Ministry of Health, use of masks and social distance. He added that Israel is also working on other ways to handle the virus, such as rapid tests. Israel has vaccine agreements with Moderna Inc. and Arcturus, both US companies. The Hadassah-University Medical Center has signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia for its Sputnik V vaccine, which earlier this week reported an efficacy of 92%.