A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford / AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Antwerp, Belgium, March 18, 2021. REUTERS / Yves Herman
Israel no longer wants the AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine and is working with the company to see if a large shipment in the pipeline could be sent elsewhere, Israel’s pandemic coordinator said Wednesday.
“We’re trying to find the best solution. After all, we don’t want (the vaccines) coming here and have to throw them in the trash,” the official, Nachman Ash, told Army Radio, saying Israel’s needs were met by others. suppliers.
In his comments, Ash did not refer to the AstraZeneca vaccine that has been linked to very rare blood clots in Europe. Many countries are resuming its administration after the European Union drug watchdog said the benefits outweighed the risks.
Israel cast a wide net last year when it tried to secure vaccine doses at the height of the pandemic and was pre-ordered from a number of companies.
It was largely consistent with the Pfizer (PFE.N) / BioNTech (22UAy.DE) vaccine and launched one of the world’s fastest deployments. COVID-19 infections in Israel have dropped dramatically and the economy has reopened.
Israel is also purchasing Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines (MRNA.O), which uses a similar messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. read more
Ash said that now that supplies were secure until 2022, Israel no longer needed the 10 million doses it agreed on from AstraZeneca.
“They can certainly be used elsewhere in the world. Right now, we are working with the company to find the best way to do this,” he said.
“We think it would be best if they (the vaccines) didn’t come to Israel and we agree with the company on a way to take them elsewhere.”
Officials at AstraZeneca had no immediate comments.
About 81% of Israeli citizens or residents over the age of 16 – the age group eligible for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Israel – have received both doses.
About 167,000 of the 5.2 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Islamic Hamas-led Gaza have had at least one dose of vaccine, with supplies coming from Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the global COVAX program for the parts of vaccines and China.
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