Health officials warned Sunday deficiency of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
They told health professionals to use the hundreds of thousands of injections that arrive in Israel in the next two weeks on those who received the first dose of the vaccine, Channel 12 reported.
The authorities are concerned that they will not have enough doses for the 1.5 million Israelis who have not yet been immunized. Negotiations are underway with Pfizer-BioNTech to increase supply, the report said.
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This week and next month, shipments of shots from Moderna are due to arrive in Israel, but health officials said the quantities will be relatively small, according to Channel 12. The report said the warnings were not considered a call for False relief designed to simulate scarcity to encourage people to get vaccinated.
The Maariv daily reported, however, that the Ministry of Health reported that shipments from Pfizer-BioNTech will stop in about two weeks, but will not cause shortages.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told health professionals that hundreds of thousands of injections of Moderna will arrive in March. He said that part of the consignment will be kept to vaccinate Palestinian workers crossing to Israel, and part will be to vaccinate people who have recovered from the virus, Ynet said.
The Ministry of Health on Saturday recommended vaccinating those who recovered from COVID-19 with one dose instead of two.
A health worker at Maccabi Healthcare Services administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to a woman in a van in Tel Aviv-Jaffa on February 16, 2021. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
The Palestinian Authority said on Friday that Israel had agreed to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinians working in Israel, but unidentified Israeli officials told Ynet that no decision has been made yet.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday that more than 4.2 million Israelis received their first dose of vaccine, and more than 2.8 million received the second in a population of 9 million.
About 3 million Israelis are ineligible to receive the virus, including most children under the age of 16.
The Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the coronavirus vaccines were “dramatically” effective and the latest data showed that the vaccines were 98.9% effective in preventing death from COVID-19.
According to data released by the ministry, the vaccine also protects 99.2% against serious illnesses, reduces morbidity by 95.8% and decreases the chance of hospitalization by 98.9%.
The disclosure of the data occurred at the time when Israel lifted some of the main restrictions imposed in late December as part of a third blockade aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, with stores, gyms, hotels and other places authorized to reopen in the morning. Sunday for those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from the virus.
The reopenings came amid a continuing decline in morbidity, particularly among high-risk groups, which are largely credited to Israel’s rapid vaccination campaign.
There are 44,728 active infections in Israel and 747,965 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 3,014 new infections reported on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said.
The death toll stood at 5,569.
