‘Prepare your shoulders and your boys’: Israel is already planning second vaccination campaign

TEL AVIV- Having already lifted several restrictions and with more than 81% of the population over 16 years old with at least one dose, Israel prepares for another vaccination campaign in six months, including the children this time. “Prepare your shoulders and also your boys”said the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel is also in talks with the lab AstraZeneca will cancel shipments of more than ten million pre-reserved vaccines. “We are trying to find the best solution. After all, we don’t want (vaccines) to get here and we have to throw them awayIsrael’s coronavirus commissioner Nachman Ash said. He added that Israel’s needs they were satisfied with other suppliers. In his comments, Ash made no reference to the fact that the AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with blood clots in Europe. Many countries have resumed their administration after the European Union’s watchdog said the benefits outweighed the risks.

Netanyahu explained the new agreement reached with Pfizer and Moderna to purchase 16 million new doses of the vaccine. “We have to be prepared because there can always be surprises with a new variant”, He said.

Israel reserved large quantities of vaccines last year at the height of the pandemic and has pre-ordered several companies. To a large extent, he ultimately opted for Pfizer / BioNTech, launching one of the fastest vaccination campaigns in the world.

Covid-19 infections in Israel They were drastically reduced, this weekend the obligation to wear a chin strap in the open air was lifted and the economy reopened.

About 81% of Israeli citizens or residents over the age of 16, the age group eligible for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Israel, have already received both doses. And those 167,000 of the 5.2 million Palestinians In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, led by the Hamas group, they received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with supplies from Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the global mechanism. Covax.

ANSA and AFP agencies

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