TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Israel, Denmark and Austria agreed on Thursday to join forces in the fight against COVID-19 through an investment in vaccine research and launch to protect people against new coronavirus surges and mutations.
The leaders of the three countries said their alliance would set up a foundation and vaccine distribution factories in Europe and Israel, based on the initiative to inoculate the world in Israel.
The effort is aimed at overcoming another expected increase in COVID-19 and uncertainty about how long vaccinations will be effective. Details, such as costs and time to open projects, were still being worked out, the leaders said.
“We believe that by joining the resources of three small but highly capable and gifted countries, we can better meet these challenges,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that other countries have also expressed interest in the effort.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz added that “this pandemic can only be overcome through global cooperation”.
This has been a delicate question, as anti-virus campaigns have faced challenges in places such as Europe and have expressed concern that the pandemic will last longer in poorer countries, which cannot afford vaccination campaigns.
Israel has inoculated more than half of its population in one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world, although it has faced some criticism for not sending significant amounts of vaccines to Palestinians..
That is expected to change next week, with Israel offering vaccines to about 100,000 Palestinian workers working in Israel or in its West Bank settlements. However, the vast majority of the approximately 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will remain unvaccinated.
For Netanyahu, the alliance served as a way to flex its political muscle on the international stage before the March 23 elections. The “vaccination nation,” as Israel calls it, will become “vaccination nations” to include Denmark and Austria, he said, adding that the group will welcome several international partners.
While Israel does not produce vaccines, the prime minister has moved aggressively to provide enough vaccines for Israel’s 9.3 million people in agreements with Pfizer and Moderna. Netanyahu has even offered some vaccine surpluses to allied nations.
European leaders have said they want to learn from Israel’s success. Austria is among some members of the European Union who have expressed frustration with the slow launch of the vaccine in the bloc of 27 nations. Kurz said he was pleased with some of the EU’s crisis management, “but we also need to work together globally.”
Earlier in the day, Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen joined Netanyahu at an Israeli gym to see how vaccine certificates, known as “green passes” or passports, work. Only people with the badge indicating that they have been vaccinated, obtained through an application, can use gyms and go to concerts.
“Vaccine production involves several steps, so we will divide the burden between us and each will focus on the specific ones,” said Kurz, who said his country will need about 30 million doses for the next stage of pandemic. Austria has vaccinated just over 6% of its population.
Frederiksen said he would like to see countries cooperate in clinical trials. Denmark has inoculated just over 7% of its population since March 1.
“We all have promising research that could pave the way for next-generation platforms,” she said.
___
Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen of Copenhagen, Denmark and Frank Jordans of Berlin contributed to this report.
___
Follow Kellman on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/APLaurieKellman