Despite the early success with the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine, Israel is fast on its way to a third national exclusion as the virus spreads.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet blame it for a faster-spreading tension first spotted in the UK last month. Israeli officials confirmed four cases of the tension on December 23, days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was an emerging issue.
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man receives a vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19), while Israel completes its national vaccination process during a third national COVID exclusion at a branch of Maccabi Healthcare Services in Ashdod, Israel, on December 29, 2020 continue.
Amir Cohen | Reuters
Netanyahu told ministers at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday: “We are in a state of emergency.” Ministers agreed to the closure that begins Friday to close schools and non-essential businesses and force residents to stay within a one-mile radius of their homes.
It comes amid a worldwide uproar over a slow explosion of vaccines in the US and elsewhere that Israel could largely avoid.
Tom (69) and Judy Barrett (67) of Marco Island are waiting in the early hours of the morning at the Lakes Park Regional Library to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Myers, Florida, USA, December 30, 2020. Photo taken on December 30, 2020.
Andrew West | USAToday | Reuters
Israeli officials have boasted that in the first nine days of its vaccination campaign, the country has vaccinated more people than it has had in total Covid infections since the start of the pandemic.
As of last week, the country has already vaccinated about 7% of its population of more than 9.2 million. The Israeli Ministry of Health projects up to 90% of the population at risk will receive their second of two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine within the next 25 days.
The effectiveness of its vaccine campaign has made it a potential model for the rest of the world, epidemiologists say.
Israel had an early advantage, says Dr. Itamar Grotto, the co-director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health and one of the officials who led the indictment. “We have a national vaccination registry set up a few years ago; the whole country is on one database,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNBC.
The registry was started to ensure that children get all their shots. That infrastructure has prepared Israel better for this outbreak than many other countries fighting the virus. Israel had a terrifying drought for Covid-19 when it was hit in 2013 with a wild-type poliovirus outbreak.
The country brought the disease under control with an intense vaccination campaign that led the way to today’s vaccination database.
Israel’s medical infrastructure also offers some other benefits, he said:
- Medical care in Israel is largely socialized.
- Israel has only four health maintenance organizations that serve citizens, while many other countries have more competition in the system.
- These HMOs are all affiliated with the country’s national health service, which keeps records of every Israeli citizen.
- The whole system is digitized under a single national system.
Before packages with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine began arriving in Israel on December 9, a panel set up by the government began sorting out who would get the shots in the first wave.
Boxes containing the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are being prepared to be shipped to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant in Portage, Michigan, December 13, 2020.
Morry Gash | Swimming Pool | Reuters
At the same time, the Ministry of Health began setting up a communication and distribution system. When the vials arrive with the vaccine, he can hit the ground, he said.
Patients in the database in the first group who received the vaccine were given an appointment by email, text message or via an online login page with a date and time frame to get their chance. Regular clinics, community centers, hospitals and some sports stadiums have been converted into vaccination centers and staffed with previously trained health workers, he said.
Because the vaccine cannot be frozen again after thawing, Israel encourages drivers at the vaccination sites to use each dose.
Grotto said there is a waiting list of people who can step in at short notice if other people do not show up by the end of the day. Officials at distribution centers also divide vials into smaller packages, suitable for each center, and this is another effort to prevent waste.
However, Israel’s challenges are far from over. Health officials recently confirmed that nearly 500 doses were wasted in the southern part of the country because health workers could not get enough people on standby to get to vaccination centers.
Israel expects more deliveries from Pfizer. It also made agreements with Moderna and AstraZeneca; however, those shots have not yet been delivered. But they are expected soon. Israel is also working on its own vaccine, but there is no word on when it will be ready.