Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Hezi Levy on Tuesday told representatives of the country's health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to prepare to vaccinate medical teams for COVID-19 on December 20.
The extent of the operation is contingent upon the number of vaccine doses Israel receives from U.S. pharma giant Pfizer, whose first batch of shots is expected to arrive in Israel as early as Thursday.
As the HMOs are expected to take the reins over the vaccine's distribution, Maccabi Healthcare Services Director Ran Sa'ar warned on Tuesday that one of the major challenges will be dealing with any doubts the public may have about the shot.
"There are many voices that call not to get vaccinated but we must lead the call for the vaccine," Sa'ar told the Ynet studio. "We must set a personal example. The administration, hospital directors, the Health Ministry and the political class, of course."
The government should offer an incentive to those who get inoculated like preferable treatment when entering concerts, events, flights and more. Only this will guarantee high responsiveness."
Clalit Health Services Director Prof. David Greenberg stressed the importance of transparency when addressing the public.
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Pfizer and Moderna are two companies whose COVID-19 vaccine candidates showed promising results in clinical trials and have distribution contracts with Israel
(Photo: Reuters, AFP)
Sa'ar and Greenberg believe that Israel can reach the government's goal of vaccinating two million Israelis within six weeks.
"It's important to make it clear that children won't get the shot at first, since the pharmaceutical companies did not test their effects on them," Prof. Greenberg said. "We must first immunize the at-risk populations, namely elders with pre-existing conditions. We know how to reach them."
Sa'ar said he believes that the end goal should be universal vaccination.
"Although we should prioritize according to the Health Ministry's criteria, vaccinating everyone is crucial," he said. "We can vaccinate around 25,000 people a day, and Clalit can vaccinate another 40,000 a day, and other HMOs will also help."
The goal to vaccinate 2 million people in six weeks is plausible, it all depends on the public's response."
Sa'ar also added that HMOs were setting up massive distribution centers in large venues and in the form of drive-thru stations.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday morning that 1,837 new coronavirus cases have been diagnosed in the past 24 hours.
There were 13,949 active carriers of coronavirus in Israel, 315 patients were in serious condition and 107 were on ventilators.
Since the onset of the pandemic in Israel, 2,924 people have died due to complications on COVID-19.
First published: 19:56, 12.08.20