PM Bennett: more vaccines in Israel next month
A new shipment of Pfizer-developed Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines will arrive in Israel at the beginning of August, just as the supply in the country was about to run out, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on the production line. Credit: Mike Mareen/Shutterstock
Speaking during the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Bennett said that his government is leading a strategy of “blocking and routine.”
“One eye is on public health and the containment of the virus, and another eye on the economy and the routine of life,” he said.
The general policy is that as long as there are not hundreds of critically ill patients, the restrictions will not be tightened.
He announced that after a series of talks with Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, Israel closed a deal on Saturday night to move up the next vaccination delivery to August 1.
“I want to emphasize there are vaccines for everyone,” he stated. “We have the first dose in stock, and the second dose will arrive, in early August. Therefore, those who have not yet been vaccinated – especially young people but also adults, go out today to get vaccinated.”
Bennett made the remarks as the Delta (Indian) variant continued to spread across the country and the number of new daily cases continued to climb.
The Ministry of health documented 531 new cases on Friday.
There are currently 44 patients in serious condition, 12 of whom are on life support,
Of the 50,325 tests done over the weekend, a low 0.6% returned positive.
Two more Israelis died of the virus over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 6,436.
Professor Eran Segal, a computational biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and an expert on COVID-19 in Israel, told Ynet News Sunday that the maximum number of seriously ill patients that the health system can contend with without tightening restrictions is 300 to 400.
This number will enable the hospitals to provide optimal care and also provide a margin of safety, he explained.
“I do not believe we will reach these numbers, but if we do, and we continue to see an upward trend – it will be time to introduce restrictions in an attempt to reduce morbidity. We will not be in a better position than the current one, because we will probably not find a more effective vaccine, nor will we be able to vaccinate a higher percentage of the population,” he cautioned.
I think Australia has it eye on Israel………