COVID-19 vaccination in Israel

COVID-19 vaccination in Israel
Date19 December 2020 (2020-12-19) – present
LocationIsrael
CauseCOVID-19 pandemic in Israel
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]

As of June 26, 2021, about 64% of eligible Israelis have received at least one dose. 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

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] (→ Demographics of Israel)

Israel is smaller in land area than many other developed nations. It has a comparatively small population of about 9.3 million people and a high population density (424/km2). 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

Vaccine Approval Deployment
Pfizer–BioNTech Yes Yes
Moderna Yes Yes

Vaccines in trial stage

Vaccine Type (technology) Phase I Phase II Phase III
Pfizer–BioNTech RNA Completed Completed Completed
The Israel Institute for Biological Research Viral vector Completed Completed N/A
MigVax-101 VLP Not yet Not yet Not yet

History

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]

The perceived success of Israel's vaccination programme has been credited to the centralized systems its health maintenance organizations maintained, especially with regard 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]

On 10 November 2021, the Israeli Government approved the use of COVID-19 vaccine shots for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years. Israeli epidemiologists and health authorities have identified vaccine hesitancy among parents as an obstacle to getting children vaccinated.[30]

On 22 December 2021, an Israeli government pannel recommended a fourth dose for the elderly and immunocompromised population.[31][32]

Waning vaccine immunity

Data from the national campaign showed there to be a strong effect of waning immunity from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after 6 months.[33][34] On 29 July 2021, Israel's Prime Minister announced that the country was rolling out a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people over the age of 60, based on the data that suggested significant waning immunity from infection over time for those with two doses.[35] The country expanded the availability to all Israelis over the age of 12, after five months since their second shot. On 29 August 2021, Israel's coronavirus czar announced that Israelis who had not received a booster shot within six months of their second dose would lose access to the country's green pass vaccine passport.[36]

Distribution issues

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]

During the first quarter of 2021, Israel had to address a moderate amount of vaccine hesitancy in its general population, and also address more intense pockets of vaccine hesitancy among young adults and religious/cultural minority groups. The challenges were addressed via a mix of messaging, incentives, extensions to the initial vaccine delivery system, and other measures. Many of the measures addressed the general population, while others were targeted at subgroups with below-average vaccination rates. Once the early adopters had been vaccinated, it took hard, creative work to increase population coverage from 40 to 60% and beyond.[37]

Distribution of vaccines to Palestinians has not been as thorough as to Israeli citizens.[38] In early March, the supply of COVID-19 vaccines was not sufficient to cover all of its healthcare workers.[39] 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.[40] Gaza has a population of about 2 million, by comparison.[41] 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 regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.[42][43] Some Israeli health officials urged the government to provide vaccinations to all Palestinians.[44]

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.[45]

By late March, Israel vaccinated more than 100,000 Palestinian laborers.[46][47] In June 2021, Israel announced it would give over 1 million soon-to-expire Pfizer vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a later reimbursement of a similar amount of vaccines which the Palestinian Authority expects to receive from Pfizer in the first quarter of 2022. In June 18, 100,000 of these doses had already been transferred to the West Bank's Palestinian Health Ministry.[48][49] However, the Palestinian Authority soon pulled out of the exchange deal, saying the doses expired too fast.[50][51]

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.[52]

Almost 100,000 (or about 2% of vaccinated Israelis) did not receive their second dose after their first dose.[53] 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.[54] Compared to the original speed at which vaccines were being administered, vaccinations in Israel have slowed, according to the Ministry of Health.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "280,000 Vaccinated in the First Week of the 'Give a Shoulder' Campaign". GOV.IL. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 Rosen, Bruce; Dine, Sarah; Davidovitch, Nadav (2021-03-18). "Lessons In COVID-19 Vaccination From Israel". Health Affairs. doi:10.1377/hblog20210315.476220 (inactive 31 October 2021). Archived from the original on 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of October 2021 (link)
  6. 1 2 3 Kraft, Dina (2021-02-26). "Israel turns to carrots, and maybe some sticks, to persuade COVID-19 vaccine holdouts". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  7. ↑ "Israel leading the world in vaccination, ambassador shares tips for Massachusetts and U.S." Boston Herald. 2021-03-27. Archived from the original on 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. 1 2 Feuer, Will (2021-02-26). "Israeli data suggest mass vaccinations led to drop in severe Covid cases, CDC study finds". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. 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. 384 (18): 1775–1777. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2101951. ISSN 0028-4793. PMC 8008751. PMID 33755373.
  11. ↑ "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu receives Pfizer vaccine". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Israel's COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Is Slowing at a Critical Moment. That's a Warning for the Rest of Us". Time. Retrieved 2021-03-27.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. 1 2 Mallapaty, Smriti (2021-02-05). "Vaccines are curbing COVID: Data from Israel show drop in infections". Nature. 590 (7845): 197. Bibcode:2021Natur.590..197M. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00316-4. PMID 33547434.
  14. ↑ Silberman, Eric (2021-03-11). "Pfizer vaccine shows 94% effectiveness against asymptomatic transmission of COVID". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  15. ↑ "Pfizer-BioNTech Shot Stops Covid Spread, Israeli Study Shows". Bloomberg News. 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2021-03-27.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "Israeli COVID-19 vaccine response leaders to speak April 6 at MSU". Montana State University. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  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 (9): 326–328. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7009e3. ISSN 0149-2195. PMC 7948930. PMID 33661863.
  19. ↑ "Israel's "green pass" vaccine passport is an early vision of how we leave lockdown". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  20. ↑ "Israel's Covid-19 vaccination pass opens fast track to normal life". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21. 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. 1 2 Gold, Hadas (2021-03-11). "Israel vaccination 'green pass' may offer a glimpse of a post-Covid future". CNN. Archived from the original on 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Fauzia, Miriam (2021-03-02). "Fact check: Israel launching 'Green Pass' for citizens vaccinated against COVID-19". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  24. ↑ "What is a Vaccination Certificate?". Israeli Ministry of Health. Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  25. 1 2 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ↑ "Israel opens restaurants and bars to customers vaccinated against Covid-19". France 24. 2021-03-07. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  27. ↑ "Only 100,000 Israelis over 50 left to be vaccinated - new data". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. 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. Archived from the original on 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  29. ↑ "Israel Is Now The First Country Where Vaccinations Are Starting To Curb The Pandemic". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  30. ↑ Jeffay, Nathan (10 November 2021). "Israel approves COVID shots for kids; experts predict uphill acceptance struggle". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  31. ↑ CNN, Andrew Carey, Elliot Williams and Hadas Gold. "Israel begins fourth Covid-19 dose vaccine rollout for people 60 and over as Omicron cases surge". CNN. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  32. ↑ "Covid-19: Israel plans to give fourth dose of vaccine to over-60s". BBC News. 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  33. ↑ "Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity induced by Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may decline after 6 months". News-Medical.net. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  34. ↑ Goldberg, Yair; Mandel, Micha; Bar-On, Yinon M.; Bodenheimer, Omri; Freedman, Laurence; Haas, Eric J.; Milo, Ron; Alroy-Preis, Sharon; Ash, Nachman; Huppert, Amit (30 August 2021). "Waning immunity of the BNT162b2 vaccine: A nationwide study from Israel". medRxiv: 2021.08.24.21262423. doi:10.1101/2021.08.24.21262423. S2CID 237351248.
  35. ↑ Tal, Amir (2021-07-30). "Israel to offer third Covid-19 vaccine dose to people over 60". CNN. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  36. ↑ Lieber, Dov (2021-08-31). "In Israel, Being Fully Vaccinated Now Means Three Shots - Israeli study finds booster shot of Pfizer vaccine can give 10-fold protection against severe illness". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  37. ↑ Rosen, B., Waitzberg, R., Israeli, A. et al. Addressing vaccine hesitancy and access barriers to achieve persistent progress in Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination program. Isr J Health Policy Res 10, 43 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00481-x
  38. ↑ "Israelis and Palestinians See Starkly Different Coronavirus Vaccination Numbers". NPR. Retrieved 2021-03-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  39. ↑ 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.
  40. ↑ Kellman, Laurie (2021-03-08). "Israel celebrates 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination". AP News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  41. ↑ "Israel shines as Covid success story while neighbors in Gaza are left without vaccines". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  42. ↑ "UN envoy calls for more support to aid Palestinian COVID-19 response". UN News. 2021-03-25. Archived from the original on 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  43. ↑ "Denying COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians exposes Israel's institutionalized discrimination". Amnesty International. 2021-01-06. Archived from the original on 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  44. ↑ "Israeli Health Officials To Government: Vaccinate All Palestinians". NPR. Retrieved 2021-03-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ↑ Zitser, Joshua. "Israel, the Palestinians, and the COVID-19 vaccination rollout: The legal and moral obligations". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  46. ↑ Ben Zion, Ilan. "Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  47. ↑ Ben Zion, Ilan (2021-03-27). "Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus". AP News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  48. ↑ Krauss, Joseph (June 18, 2021). "Israel to send 1M coronavirus vaccine doses to Palestinians". The Chicago Tribune. The Associated Press. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  49. ↑ Khoury, Jack; Efrati, Ido; Lis, Jonathan (June 18, 2021). "Bennett Approves Transfer of Over 1 Million COVID Vaccines to Palestinians". Haaretz. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  50. ↑ Carey, Andrew; Salman, Abeer (19 June 2021). "Palestinians cancel Pfizer vaccine agreement with Israel". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  51. ↑ "Palestinians cancel deal for Israel to supply 1 million COVID vaccines". Times of Israel. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  52. ↑ Lubell, Maayan (2021-03-15). "Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Jews get COVID vaccine but still face resentment". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  53. ↑ "Nearly 100,000 Israelis neglected to get second dose of COVID vaccine". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  54. ↑ "100,000 Israelis who got first COVID shot reportedly haven't returned for second". The Times of Israel. 2021-03-14. Archived from the original on 2021-03-13. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
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