The Ministry of Health announced that 152,000 people were vaccinated against coronavirus on Tuesday, a number that corresponds to the Ministry’s target of 150,000 vaccines per day by the end of the first week. Since the start of the vaccination drive last week, 650,000 Israelis have received the first of the vaccine’s two doses.
The high rate of vaccination places Israel first in the world for the number of people who have been vaccinated in relation to the population.
According to the OurWorldInData website, in Israel, 5.68 vaccine doses were given per 100 people (calculations are made according to “standardized persons,” i.e. statistically according to demographics in each country), followed by Bahrain with 3.29 doses, the United Kingdom with 1.18 doses, The United states with 0.64 and Canada with 0.16 (updated for Wednesday).
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced that the corona vaccine campaign will be extended to communities in the country’s periphery. According to the minister's announcement, vaccination mobiles will reach remote localities and vaccinate the residents.
The high distribution of vaccines will be possible thanks to a move that Israel will be the first in the world to make – reorganizing the vaccines into small packages, instead of the large packages of nearly 1,000 doses in which the vaccines come from Pfizer.
"Israel is the first country in the world to repackage and allow vaccination in remote areas with maximum public accessibility," Edelstein said.
He thanked the employees of the SLE pharmaceutical distribution company, which is responsible for storing and transporting the vaccines, as well as for separating them.
“Dedicated SLE workers work inside refrigerators at 2-degree Celsius temperatures, all under strict oversight, under close supervision by pharmacists and the Ministry of Health’s Vaccine Center. That way, we will reach every point in the country without losing expensive vaccines. This is how we make Israel the world leader in vaccines. "
