A man receives a vaccination against the coronavirus disease in Jerusalem
Credit: Reuters
The cars are parked bumper to bumper at Jerusalem’s Arena stadium, some squashed onto pavements, as hundreds of Israelis arrive for their coronavirus vaccines.
For the past year, the elderly and vulnerable have been forbidden from leaving their homes as the country battled with an explosive infection rate and one of the toughest lockdown regimes in the world.
But today they will receive the golden ticket that finally allows them to get on with their lives — and the atmosphere is electric.
“It’s wonderful, one of the best feelings of my life,” says Alexander, a 70-year-old Israeli as the needle pokes into his arm. “I turned 70 three days ago so I think of this as my birthday present.”
Sarah Lezmi, the 21-year-old paramedic who administered the jab, says is it difficult to keep count of the number of vaccines being used up, such is the furious pace of the operation.
“The [patients] are excited, they see it as a blessing, they are taking photos, they’re really happy,” says Ms Lezmi, who signed up as a paramedic after her national service in the Israeli military.
An elderly couple enter a cubicle inside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv,
Credit: Bloomberg
The Arena is one of the main hubs for Israel’s lighting-speed vaccination drive, which has already given out the first of two jabs to 1.2m people and has ordered a further six million doses for the nine million-strong population.
As Britain launches its own ambitious round of vaccinations of this week, the architects of the Israeli model, the fastest in the world, are well aware that they are being watched for inspiration.
The vaccine clinics are run by Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs), public health bodies whose nurses and paramedics work from 8am until 10pm each day injecting the Pfizer vaccine.
Israelis are legally required to join one of four HMOs but can switch providers if they wish, creating a major incentive to offer the best possible service.
There is a fierce sense of competitiveness inside the stadium as Maccabi and Clalit, two HMOs running vaccine clinics, race to get doses out of refrigerated units and into the arms of their excited patients.
“At full capacity we can do 2,000 vaccinations in one day,” says Naama Mantzur, an operational director at the Maccabi clinic.
“We have a good system I think because we keep it as simple as possible. We let patients know they are eligible for a vaccine by email, and then if they don’t respond we call them.”
For now, Israel is focusing on vaccinations for the over 60s and those with underlying health conditions, though relatives of frontline care workers are also eligible.
A nurse draws the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from a vial inside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv,
Credit: Bloomberg
After taking a ticket at the entrance, patients sit in a waiting area before they are guided into one of a dozen or so cubicles where the jab is administered.
Before leaving the centre they are given a printout with the date of the second appointment in a fortnight’s time.
As the Pfizer vaccine must be used within six hours of leaving the fridge, Israeli officials have been breaking up the 1,000-dose packages into smaller trays to reduce wastage.
This occasionally leaves behind a surplus of a few doses which are given to Israelis who turn up without appointments.
Officials stress that those patients still need to meet the criteria for receiving a vaccine, such as pre-existing health conditions.
“There is a sense that people are making history and that they are on a mission, a national effort, to come out of this,” says Shani Luvaton, a nurse at Clalit, the other HMO running a clinic at the stadium.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has said he hopes to fully vaccinate more than two million Israelis with the Pfizer jab by the end of January, when a fresh batch of the Moderna jab is due to arrive.
Israel has faced some criticism for not vaccinating Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, which human rights groups say is a moral and legal obligation for the Jewish state as they are occupied territories.
Israel rejects this, pointing to the 1990-era Oslo peace accords, which state that Palestinian leaders are responsible for vaccinations.
Israel also says it will offer surplus vaccines to Palestinian leaders, who are pursuing their own jabs via the WHO-led Covax scheme.
A woman receives a vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination center in Jerusalem
Credit: Reuters
While many countries are eager to take the lead from Israel in their own vaccination schemes, experts say some aspects of the programme will be hard to emulate.
With only 13,000 square miles of ground to cover, excluding settlements which are also receiving vaccines, the logistical work is fairly straightforward and assisted by Israel’s conscript army.
“Israel has experience in managing national emergencies and is used to coordinating the healthcare system with the army to get it to respond to those emergencies,” said Prof Michael Edelstein, an epidemiologist at Bar Ilan university.
There may also be strong cultural factors in play, Prof Edelstein adds: “A fairly unique trait of the Israeli population is that you don’t want to be seen as a ‘frier’ [Hewbrew for ‘sucker’].
“If you start seeing people vaccinated you don’t want to lose out, and that has led to almost too many people turning out.”
But there will be new challenges on the horizon. Some Israeli analysts say the country specialises in brief and intensive operations, whereas the vaccine drive is closer to a marathon than a sprint.
“The first tens of per cent are the easiest because you are going to attract those who really want it,” Prof Edelstein explains. “As the proportions increase, some areas will be well vaccinated and some less so, which will call for a more tailored approach.”
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