More than 10% of the Israeli population received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, a rate that far exceeded the rest of the world and, at a critical moment, kept the battered image of the virus afloat. the country’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the national level.
Israel’s campaign, which began on December 20, distributed the vaccine to its population at a rate three times higher than that of the second nation, the small kingdom of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, according to figures compiled from local government sources in the world. in our data.
In contrast, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population and only small fractions of the population in many European countries received a dose of vaccine by the end of 2020, according to Our World in Data, although the total distribution of doses in China, the United States and the United Kingdom was larger in each of these countries.
“It’s a pretty extraordinary story,” said Ran Balicer, chairman of the national advisory team advising the Israeli government on its response to COVID-19.
Israel has a highly digitalized community healthcare system – by law, all citizens must register with one of the country’s four health care organizations (HMOs) – as well as a centralized government that has demonstrated expertise in orchestrating a national inoculation campaigns, according to Israeli health experts.
With a population of 9 million people, Israel’s relatively small size has also played a role, said Balicer, who is also the director of innovation at Clalit, the country’s largest of the country’s four HMOs.
An aggressive acquisition effort helped set the stage.
In an interview Friday, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein commented that Israel was a “prime mover” in negotiations with pharmaceutical companies and that companies were interested in providing Israel because of its reputation for efficiency and reliable HMO data collection. their.
“We are at the forefront of the world because of our early training,” he said.
In October, internal political strife, confusing instructions and a lack of confidence in the government gave the impression that they had fractured Israel as the country struggled to cope with rising coronavirus cases and deaths that, relative to population size, were one of the worst in the world.
Although Israel’s restrictions in the fall have reduced the number of new cases of COVID-19 in recent weeks, they have risen to more than 5,000 a day, with the country returning to its third emergency stop, although was partially. More than 420,000 Israelis were infected and 3,325 died.
To date, the Israeli authorities have not made public the number of vaccine doses the country has received or how much it has paid for them, arguing that the agreements are confidential. However, according to Edelstein, if it turns out that Israel has overpaid compared to other countries, the cost would still be worth it, even if it had reopened the Israeli economy a week earlier than it could have otherwise.
Jonathan Halevy, president of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, said being among the first was a “correct strategy.”
According to Edelstein, prioritizing health professionals and citizens over the age of 60, Israel managed to get the majority of its high-risk population to receive the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of January. About 150,000 Israelis are vaccinated every day.
Netanyahu – who is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust – has established the vaccination campaign as a personal mission, taking credit for signing agreements and having guaranteed millions of doses of Pfizer, Moderna and other companies.
As Israel moves to other elections in March, the fourth in two years for the country, Netanyahu has made the prospect of a rapid recovery from the economic and health crisis that has made the pandemic a cornerstone of his struggle for political survival. Netanyahu has promised that Israel will become the first country in the world to be fully vaccinated.
Apart from political reasons, the prime minister has received praise for his efforts, even from some of his longtime critics, after he was widely blamed for mishandling the crisis last year.
“We can’t blame Netanyahu for all of Israel’s ailments – though right, most of the time – and then ignore his contribution when something works,” wrote Gideon Levy, a columnist for Haaretz, a trending newspaper in Israel this week. This one. Left.
On December 19, Netanyahu became the first Israeli to be inoculated against COVID-19, making sure he wanted to set an example. On Tuesday, he visited a unit in Jerusalem to congratulate the Israeli who received the 500,000 vaccine.
On Thursday, Netanyahu visited a vaccination center in the central Israeli city of Tira to encourage greater participation by the country’s Arab minority. Arab citizens, who make up a fifth of the population, have been more reluctant than others to be vaccinated.
“We have brought millions of vaccines, more than any other country in the world in relation to its population,” Netanyahu said, adding, “We brought them all: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular.”
“Come and be vaccinated,” he urged in Arabic.
To date, the government’s vaccination campaign has not been extended to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, who have not yet had access to any vaccines, and the Palestinian Authority does not appear to have publicly requested it. Legal experts and human rights activists noted that Israel was obliged to provide vaccines to Palestinians.
This week, the United Nations humanitarian agency for the Occupied Territories noted that the Palestinian Authority has requested financial support from the global Covax vaccination system and is working with international logistics organizations.
Edelstein noted that the government’s first obligation was to its own citizens, but it was in Israel’s interest to help limit infections among Palestinians. “Yes, God willing, there is a situation where we can say that we are able to help others, there is no doubt that it will be done,” he said.