Israel has launched the fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the world and vaccinated almost 20% of its population within three weeks. The small country – with about nine million people, about the same as the city of New York – now intends to vaccinate the majority of its population by March.
While Israel’s vaccination campaign is relatively simple compared to the mass mobilizations needed by countries like the US, which is spreading far more people across a larger amount of geography, it offers some clear lessons.
Sending smaller vaccines
The Pfizer Inc. BioNTech SE vaccine should be administered within five days of leaving the main storage area and within six hours of adding a diluent before withdrawing five to six doses from a vial.
To cope with the short shelf life and reach less populated and isolated areas, Israel – with the approval of Pfizer – devised a system to divide the company’s doses by 1,000 doses into smaller quantities of a few hundred each. Workers repackage the vials in workstations equipped with massive freezers.
Israel, like most other countries, prefers medical professionals, people over 60 and people at high risk as vaccine recipients. But to make sure no vials are wasted, authorities also allow vaccination centers to hand out excess doses to anyone who shows up.