Israel Discusses Vaccine Swap with Pfizer... "Negotiating Vaccine Exchange with Two Countries"

1.4 Million Doses of Pfizer Vaccine Expire at the End of July
Confirmed Cases Surge to 300s in Israel

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Attention is focused on the Israeli government’s contact with Pfizer for swap negotiations of COVID-19 vaccines set to expire at the end of this month. The Israeli government previously attempted a vaccine exchange with the United Kingdom but failed in negotiations and has announced that it is currently negotiating with more than two other countries.

According to local Israeli media such as The Times of Israel on the 4th (local time), Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on the same day to discuss the exchange of Pfizer vaccines whose expiration date is at the end of this month. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated in a press release, “Prime Minister Bennett discussed negotiations for vaccine exchanges between Israel and several countries with the Pfizer CEO,” adding, “They also discussed the possibility of supplying additional Pfizer vaccines to Israel.”

Currently, about 1.4 million doses of Pfizer vaccines held by Israel are set to expire at the end of this month. The Israeli government plans to vaccinate adolescents with 300,000 of these doses within this month, while the remaining doses are reportedly being negotiated for swap agreements with other countries that have not yet received vaccine supplies from Pfizer.

According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the Israeli government previously proposed swap negotiations to the United Kingdom but failed to reach a final agreement. It is known that the Israeli government is currently in contact with more than two other countries besides the UK for swap negotiations.

However, as the spread of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant intensifies within Israel, negative opinions about vaccine swaps are reportedly increasing. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the daily number of COVID-19 cases in Israel has surged to the 300s, and the Israeli Ministry of Health has warned that daily cases will soon rapidly increase to between 500 and 600.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.