TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Israel, Denmark and Austria agreed on Thursday to join forces in the fight against COVID-19 with an investment in vaccine research and implementation to protect people against new coronavirus outbreaks and mutations.
The leaders of the three countries said their alliance will establish a foundation and factories to distribute vaccines in Europe and Israel, based on Israel’s world-leading vaccination initiative.
The effort aims to overcome another expected increase in COVID-19 and the uncertainty of how long the inoculations will remain effective. Details, such as costs and deadlines for opening the projects, are still being worked out, say the leaders.
“We believe that by pooling the resources of three small, but very capable and talented countries, we can better face these challenges,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that other countries have also expressed interest in the effort.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz added that “this pandemic can only be overcome through global cooperation”.
This has been a sensitive issue, as campaigns to combat the virus have faced challenges in places like Europe and raised concerns that the pandemic would last longer in poorer countries that cannot afford vaccination campaigns.
Israel inoculated more than half of its population in one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world, although it faced some criticism for not sending significant quantities of vaccines to the Palestinians.
This is expected to change next week, with Israel providing vaccines to some 100,000 Palestinian workers working in Israel or its West Bank settlements. Still, the vast majority of the estimated 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will remain unvaccinated.
For Netanyahu, the alliance served as a way to exercise its political strength on the international stage before the March 23 elections. “The vaccination nation”, as he calls Israel, would become a “vaccination nation” to include Denmark and Austria, he said, adding that the group would welcome more international partners.
Although Israel does not produce vaccines, the prime minister has acted aggressively to secure enough vaccines for the 9.3 million Israelis in deals with Pfizer and Moderna. Netanyahu even offered some surplus vaccines to allied nations.
European leaders said they wanted to learn from Israel’s success. Austria is among several members of the European Union who have expressed frustration at the slow implementation of the vaccine among the 27-nation bloc. Kurz said he was happy with the way the EU handled the crisis, “but we also need to cooperate around the world”.
Earlier in the day, Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen joined Netanyahu at a gym in Israel to see how vaccine certifications, known as a “green pass” or passport, work. Only people with a badge that indicates that they have been vaccinated, obtained through an application, can use the gyms and go to the shows.
“Vaccine production involves many steps, so let’s divide the task between us, and each should focus on specific steps,” said Kurz, who said his country will need around 30 million doses for the next expected stage of the pandemic. Austria vaccinated just over 6% of its population.
Frederiksen said he would also like to see countries cooperate in clinical trials. Denmark inoculated just over 7% of its population by March 1.
“We all have promising research that can pave the way for next generation platforms,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
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