During a meeting that was held yesterday between the CEO of the Israel Health Ministry, Professor Chezi Levy, and the heads of the various health care providers (HMOs) in Israel, it was made clear that the first 4 million batches of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 are set to arrive in Israel by the end of the month and the first Israelis will be able to receive the vaccine within 3-4 weeks.

During the meeting, Levy asked the HMOs to prepare to begin administering the vaccines during the upcoming month. According to the estimates being spread around in the Israeli media, 80,000 doses of the vaccine will be given to each of the HMOs daily. This is after they will arrive at the logistics center for the country in Shoham. Their quick arrival in Israel reportedly involved a complex series of situations.

The amount that will arrive in the first delivery should be enough for 2 million Israelis as 4 million doses will be arriving and each person will need to receive two doses of the vaccine. The HMOs were surprised to learn that the first batch that will arrive in Israel will arrive sooner than expected and will contain more doses than expected. The Health Ministry is working diligently in order to prepare a place to properly store the vaccines and divide up the proper number of doses to be given to each HMO according to the number of people belonging to that HMO.

The vaccine could arrive as early as next week. Currently, Israel is holding off on giving the green light to administer the vaccine until it receives approval from the American FDA. That approval is expected to be given on Wednesday. However, there is talk of Israel approving the vaccine immediately, even before the U.S. does.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)