Following the report on Monday that Moderna’s data shows its vaccine is 94.5% effective, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ posted a video on social media stating how exciting this news is for Israel, which was one of the first countries to sign a deal to purchase the company’s vaccines if proven successful.

“Already in June, I, along with Health Minister Edelstein, instructed that an agreement be signed with Moderna for the supply of vaccines,” Netanyahu stated. “Today, Moderna informed us that its vaccine has an efficacy of 94.5%. This is excellent news for the state of Israel. My goal is to bring as many vaccines as possible, from as many sources as possible, to as many citizens as possible – and as soon as possible.”

Moderna’s news is also excellent news for Netanyahu on a personal level, since he invested a large sum of money in the Moderna vaccines, despite warnings from others that it was a risky gamble. Then, following Pfizer’s announcement last week of its vaccine’s success, Netanyahu was criticized that the negotiations with Pfizer were delayed and not carried out with the proper gravity they deserved.

Meanwhile, a senior official at Moderna said that Israel would be one of the first countries to receive its coronavirus vaccines, Channel 12 News reported on Monday.

Moderna’s chief medical officer, Prof. Tal Zaks, is Israeli and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev before moving to the States to conduct post-doctoral research.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)