Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was ready in six months’ time for another coronavirus vaccination campaign that would include children, after entering into new deals with Pfizer and Moderna to buy millions more doses.
“Prepare your shoulders … and children,” he told a news conference, predicting that COVID-19 vaccines would be approved for use in children by that time.
He also warned of possible new coronavirus variants or even ‘a new virus’, saying there would be no further revival of COVID-19 if there were no such ‘surprises’.
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Netanyahu’s prediction was apparently based on remarks by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who said last week that he believed a third dose of the company’s vaccine would be needed ‘between 6-12 months’ after the first two doses. , and annually thereafter. Pfizer said the vaccine it developed with BioNTech in Germany remains 91% effective after 6 months.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference in his office in Jerusalem on April 20, 2021. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
The prime minister’s comments come a day after Israel closed its new offer deals with Pfizer and Moderna. The exact number of doses from each company remains secret, but Hebrew media reports say Israel has agreed to pay a total of 18 million shots from the two U.S. companies, with the option to buy another million after it is used.
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, December 20, 2020. (AP Photo / Ariel Schalit)
According to the agreement, the doses required will be adjusted for the different variants of the virus, if necessary.
Israel needs to provide another exact timeline on when vaccines for children will be allowed. Earlier this month, Pfizer requested permission to use its COVID-19 vaccine on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States.
Their request to the Food and Drug Administration in the US comes after the clinical phase 3 trials of the Pfizer vaccine in the age group were 100 percent effective according to the companies to ward off the disease.
The Israeli Pediatric Associated has appealed to parents and GPs to vaccinate their children once the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for the children has been approved. The vaccine currently has emergency consent for use in people 16 years and older.
Nearly 5 million Israelis, more than half of the total population, received both doses of the vaccine.
