COVID-19 vaccination in Israel

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COVID-19 vaccination in Israel
Date19 December 2020 (2020-12-19) – present
LocationIsrael
CauseCOVID-19 pandemic
TargetFull immunisation of people in Israel against COVID-19
The President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, with the first vaccinator in Phase B of the vaccine, at the Israel Institute for Biological Research, BriLife at the Barzilai Medical Center.

Israel's COVID-19 vaccination programme, officially named "Give a Shoulder" (Hebrew: לתת כתף‎),[1] began on 19 December 2020, and has been praised for its speed, having given twenty percent of the Israeli population the first dose of the vaccines' two dose regimen in the span of three weeks.[2][3][4]

About 60% of Israelis have received at least one dose, and Israel has the highest vaccinated population in the world per capita. Coordinated vaccination drives by the country's health authorities, utilizing databases of personal information for Israeli patients, contributed to Israel's success in vaccinating a high proportion of its population in a short period of time, relative to the rest of the world.

Background[edit]

Many factors contributed to the quick distribution of vaccines in the state of Israel. Israel's population is younger on average than many other developed countries, with 12% of its population over the age of 65.[5][4]

Israel is smaller in land area than many other developed nations, and also has a comparatively small population of about 9.3 million people. Israel's organized response in terms of attaining, storing and distributing vaccines was considered to be overall well coordinated. This is in part owed to the centralized nature of Israel's government system, which for example does not defer many health policy decisions to lower state-level bodies of government. The state purchased a substantial amount of Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines relative to its population as early as December 2020.[4][6] In May 2020, the state secured agreements with companies which were developing vaccines, such as Moderna.[7]

Vaccines on order[edit]

Vaccine Approval Deployment
Pfizer–BioNTech Green check.svg Yes Green check.svg Yes
Moderna Green check.svg Yes Green check.svg Yes

Vaccines in trial stage[edit]

Vaccine Type (technology) Phase I Phase II Phase III
Pfizer–BioNTech RNA Green check.svg Completed Green check.svg Completed Green check.svg Completed
The Israel Institute for Biological Research Viral vector In progress In progress Dark Red x.svg Not yet

History[edit]

Early into the programme, Israel provided Pfizer with medical information about its citizens as part of a deal for the country to receive a supply COVID-19 vaccines from the company.[8]

The initial campaign for vaccinations focused on the elderly (people over the age of 60) and other patient groups with a high risk of severe illness in the case of infection, such as those with preexisting conditions, as well as employees of the healthcare sector.[5][9] After eight weeks, nearly 85% of health workers at a hospital in Jerusalem (Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center) were vaccinated.[10]

Israel started its campaign on 19 December 2020, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu being the first person in the country to receive the vaccine, getting injected on live TV to encourage other Israelis to get vaccinated.[11] In less than two weeks, over 10% of Israelis received their first dose.[12]

Mass vaccination in Israel has produced evidence that the Pfizer vaccine works to stop transmission of the virus, including asymptomatic infections.[13][14][15] The vaccination programme has also curbed deaths in the country.[12]

As of early February 2021, at least 90% of Israelis over the age of 60 received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and there was a 41% drop in confirmed infections in the country compared with the previous month.[13] By late February, at least 4.8 million Israelis received at least one dose.[16][17] This mass vaccination led to a drop in severe COVID-19 cases.[18][9] Israel passed a law allowing government workers to identify and contact those who have not been vaccinated, in order to convince them to do so.[6]

To access certain locations such as gyms, hotels, and theatres, immunized residents show a green pass (also known as a "green badge"), which was officially introduced by the Israeli Ministry of Health on February 21.[19][20] The green pass indicates the holder is immunized against COVID-19, either by vaccination or previous infection.[21][22][23] People who have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to receive this certificate of vaccination. It expires after six months.[23][24]

As of March 2021, Israel has the highest vaccinated population per capita in the world.[12] About 60% of residents in Israel received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by March, and certain public places reopened access for those who were vaccinated.[25][26][23] Only about 100,000 residents over the age of 50 remained unvaccinated.[27] By March, at least 50% of the Israeli population had received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.[22][28][23] By late March, at least 75% had received their first dose.[7]

The perceived success of Israel's vaccination programme has been credited to the centralized systems its health maintenance organizations maintained, especially with regards to managing the personal health data of Israelis. They were able to coordinate national vaccination drives, contacting residents directly using a database of contact information such as phone numbers and emails.[25] Every Israeli citizen must register with one of the country's four HMOs.[29]

Distribution issues[edit]

Israeli authorities faced problems with distributing their supply of COVID-19 vaccines early into vaccination drives. This included trouble with scheduling appointments, loosely interpreted eligibility early on which led to supply problems, and lack of sufficient distribution to less-populated villages and Arab-Israeli communities.[4]

Distribution of vaccines to Palestinians has not been as thorough as to Israeli citizens.[30] In early March, the supply of COVID-19 vaccines was not sufficient to cover all of its healthcare workers.[31] Until March, when Israel began vaccinating Palestinian laborers with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the Palestinian Authority received only enough doses for about 6,000 people.[32] Gaza has a population of about 2 million, by comparison.[33] United Nations officials called for more support for vaccinating Palestinians, and praised Israel's assistance in this regard, while Amnesty International expressed concern that Israel had not done more for Palestinians with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34][35] Some Israeli health officials urged the government to provide vaccinations to all Palestinians.[36]

According to Business Insider, Israeli citizens of any origin as well as Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem were eligible for the vaccine, with people older than 60, healthcare workers, and the "especially vulnerable" being prioritized. However, an estimated five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza (which are not under Israeli control) were not eligible as their healthcare is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority per the Oslo Accords.[37] By late March, Israel vaccinated more than 100,000 Palestinian laborers.[38][39]

As of March 2021, Haredi Jews and Arab-Israelis had a lower rate of vaccination, compared to other sections of the population in Israel. These demographics were also comparatively more likely to be hesitant or skeptical about taking the vaccine.[12][6] Haredi Jews are about 12% of Israel's population.[40]

Almost 100,000 (or about 2% of vaccinated Israelis) did not receive their second dose after their first dose.[41] According to officials from Israel's Ministry of Health, two contributing factors to a reluctance to receive the second dose are misinformation and a fear of side effects.[42] Compared to the original speed at which vaccines were being administered, vaccinations in Israel have slowed, according to the Ministry of Health.[12]

While minors below the age of 16 are included among the proportion of the population which must be vaccinated to attain herd immunity, there have been no vaccines approved for those under the age of 16. Health officials indicated the vaccinated proportion of the Israeli population must reach 80% for full herd immunity.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "280,000 Vaccinated in the First Week of the 'Give a Shoulder' Campaign". GOV.IL. Retrieved 2021-04-14. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ^ Ellyatt, Holly (8 January 2021). "Israel's Covid vaccine rollout is the fastest in the world — here are some lessons for the rest of us". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  3. ^ Schwartz, Felicia (11 January 2021). "Israel's Covid-19 Vaccinations Hold Lessons for U.S." Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  4. ^ a b c d Rosen, Bruce; Waitzberg, Ruth; Israeli, Avi (2021-01-26). "Israel's rapid rollout of vaccinations for COVID-19". Israel Journal of Health Policy Research. 10 (1): 6. doi:10.1186/s13584-021-00440-6. ISSN 2045-4015. PMC 7835664. PMID 33499905.
  5. ^ a b Rosen, Bruce; Dine, Sarah; Davidovitch, Nadav (2021-03-18). "Lessons In COVID-19 Vaccination From Israel". Health Affairs. doi:10.1377/hblog20210315.476220/full/. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  6. ^ a b c Kraft, Dina (2021-02-26). "Israel turns to carrots, and maybe some sticks, to persuade COVID-19 vaccine holdouts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  7. ^ a b "Israel leading the world in vaccination, ambassador shares tips for Massachusetts and U.S." Boston Herald. 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  8. ^ "Israel Secures COVID-19 Vaccine Doses By Agreeing To Share Medical Data On Israelis". NPR. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  9. ^ a b Feuer, Will (2021-02-26). "Israeli data suggest mass vaccinations led to drop in severe Covid cases, CDC study finds". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  10. ^ Benenson, Shmuel; Oster, Yonatan; Cohen, Matan J.; Nir-Paz, Ran (2021-03-23). "BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness among Health Care Workers". New England Journal of Medicine. 0 (0): null. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2101951. ISSN 0028-4793.
  11. ^ "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu receives Pfizer vaccine". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Israel's COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Is Slowing at a Critical Moment. That's a Warning for the Rest of Us". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  13. ^ a b Mallapaty, Smriti (2021-02-05). "Vaccines are curbing COVID: Data from Israel show drop in infections". Nature. 590 (7845): 197–197. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00316-4.
  14. ^ Silberman, Eric (2021-03-11). "Pfizer vaccine shows 94% effectiveness against asymptomatic transmission of COVID". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  15. ^ "Pfizer-BioNTech Shot Stops Covid Spread, Israeli Study Shows". Bloomberg News. 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  16. ^ "Israeli COVID-19 vaccine response leaders to speak April 6 at MSU". Montana State University. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  17. ^ Hendrix, Steve; Rubin, Shira; Brulliard, Karin. "Israel's ahead-of-the-world vaccine rollout offers hope for countries lagging behind". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  18. ^ Rinott, Ehud (2021). "Reduction in COVID-19 Patients Requiring Mechanical Ventilation Following Implementation of a National COVID-19 Vaccination Program — Israel, December 2020–February 2021". Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 70. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7009e3. ISSN 0149-2195.
  19. ^ "Israel's "green pass" vaccine passport is an early vision of how we leave lockdown". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  20. ^ "Israel's Covid-19 vaccination pass opens fast track to normal life". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  21. ^ Kershner, Isabel (2021-02-18). "As Israel Reopens, 'Whoever Does Not Get Vaccinated Will Be Left Behind'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  22. ^ a b Gold, Hadas (2021-03-11). "Israel vaccination 'green pass' may offer a glimpse of a post-Covid future". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  23. ^ a b c d Fauzia, Miriam (2021-03-02). "Fact check: Israel launching 'Green Pass' for citizens vaccinated against COVID-19". USA Today. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  24. ^ "What is a Vaccination Certificate?". Israeli Ministry of Health. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  25. ^ a b c Trofimov, Felicia Schwartz and Yaroslav (2021-03-18). "How Israel Delivered the World's Fastest Vaccine Rollout". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  26. ^ "Israel opens restaurants and bars to customers vaccinated against Covid-19". France 24. 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  27. ^ "Only 100,000 Israelis over 50 left to be vaccinated - new data". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  28. ^ Winer, Stuart (2021-03-25). "With most Israelis now fully vaccinated, virus spread continues sharp drop-off". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  29. ^ "Israel Is Now The First Country Where Vaccinations Are Starting To Curb The Pandemic". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  30. ^ "Israelis and Palestinians See Starkly Different Coronavirus Vaccination Numbers". NPR. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  31. ^ Mahase, Elisabeth (2021-03-02). "Covid-19: Where are we on vaccines and variants?". The BMJ. 372: n597. doi:10.1136/bmj.n597. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 33653708.
  32. ^ Kellman, Laurie (2021-03-08). "Israel celebrates 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination". AP News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  33. ^ "Israel shines as Covid success story while neighbors in Gaza are left without vaccines". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  34. ^ "UN envoy calls for more support to aid Palestinian COVID-19 response". UN News. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  35. ^ "Denying COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians exposes Israel's institutionalized discrimination". Amnesty International. 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  36. ^ "Israeli Health Officials To Government: Vaccinate All Palestinians". NPR. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  37. ^ Zitser, Joshua. "Israel, the Palestinians, and the COVID-19 vaccination rollout: The legal and moral obligations". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  38. ^ Ben Zion, Ilan. "Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  39. ^ Ben Zion, Ilan (2021-03-27). "Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus". AP News. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  40. ^ Lubell, Maayan (2021-03-15). "Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Jews get COVID vaccine but still face resentment". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  41. ^ "Nearly 100,000 Israelis neglected to get second dose of COVID vaccine". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  42. ^ "100,000 Israelis who got first COVID shot reportedly haven't returned for second". The Times of Israel. 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
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