Israel secures COVID-19 vaccines through 2022
Israel signed on Monday an agreement with Pfizer for the acquisition of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for 2022.
Israel and Pfizer also agreed on an option to acquire additional millions of vaccine doses.
The deal was formulated following major efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.
The supplement that was signed will ensure the continuation of Israel’s ability to contend with the Coronavirus in an optimal manner at least until the end of 2022.
Israel signed a similar deal with Moderna as well.
Netanyahu said that he “spoke with my friends, the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna. There were several obstacles in Israel that we needed to overcome and we found a way to do so.”
“This means that soon we will have more than enough vaccines for both adults and children. Israel will again lead the world in the fight against the coronavirus. There will be no more lockdowns; we have exited this,” he declared.
Health Minister Edelstein said that he was pleased that “despite the political difficulties, we have reached an agreement with Pfizer.”
Infighting within the government placed obstacles in its ability to find the required funding for the vaccines.
“Israel is exiting from the coronavirus thanks to the vaccines. Israel will continue to lead the fight against the coronavirus in the future as well,” he said.
The almost miraculous improvement in Israel’s situation vis-à-vis the Coronavirus is attributed to its success to rapidly vaccinate its population.
The Ministry of Health updated Monday night that over 5,354,000 Israelis have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, some 57.5% of the population, and over 4.9 million Israelis – about 53.5% – have received the second dose.
About 85% of Israelis aged 16 years old and above have vaccinated or infected.
The Ministry of Health updated that it documented only 142 new COVID-19 cases over the past day.
Of the 37,451 tests done over the past day, only 0.4% returned positive.
187 of the patients hospitalized with Corona are in serious condition, 114 of them are on life support. The numbers here have been steadily dropping.
6,341 Israelis have died of the virus.
