Israel On Way to Securing Pfizer’s New COVID-19 Vaccine

Jerusalem, 12 November, 2020 (TPS) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday with Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla and made significant inroads on the way to purchasing the company’s new Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine for Israeli citizens.

Pfizer and its collaborator, BioNTech, announced on Monday positive efficacy results from the Phase 3, late-stage study of its potential COVID-19 vaccine.

The vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis.

Netanyahu stated after his conversation with Bourla that he is “constantly working to bring vaccines to Israel” and had “a very warm and heartfelt conversation” with Bourla.

Netanyahu asked to speak with Bourla and “he responded immediately.”

“It seems that Albert Bourla is very proud of his Greek and Jewish heritage from Thessaloniki and he told me that he holds the development of relations between Greece and Israel, which I have been leading in recent years, in high regard,” Netanyahu offered.

Following the conversation, which was “very substantive and very practical,” Netanyahu is “convinced” that Israel will complete the contract with Pfizer.

While some details, including who will be responsible for the shipment of the vaccines, are still under discussion, Israel is expected to sign a contract with Pfizer in the coming days.