By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel -
As of Wednesday, Israel had successfully vaccinated 1.5 million of its 9.3 million citizens, with 65% of those aged 60 and over getting their fist shot of the two-dose vaccine made by the Pfizer pharmaceutical company.
But most of those vaccinated live in or near Israel’s three large urban areas – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa – where the health care infrastructure is set up to receive and administer the temperature sensitive vaccines.
That leaves those living in Israel’s periphery having to travel farther to get inoculated, so Leumit Health Services, one of the country’s four healthcare organizations, sent out the first two coronavirus vaccination units to provide service in remote communities, with two more to join them in the near future.
The first unit was in the small city of Ofakim Tuesday and has already vaccinated hundreds of Leumit members, while the second unit began traveling to towns and villages in Israel’s Arab sector visiting the town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, east of the city of Hadera in the center of the country.
Two more mobile clinics will be in operation by the weekend, complementing the dozens of vaccination centers centers the HMO is operating around the country at its existing clinics.
“From now on, Leumit is offering its members a range of possibilities vis-à-vis anti-coronavirus vaccinations including the vaccination points and the mobile units,” said Leumit CEO Haim Fernandes.
Israel has been vaccinating some 150,000 people daily, most of them at clinics operated by the four HMOs. Hospitals are also administering the vaccine to staff and patients, the Israel Defense Forces is inoculating thousands of its medical teams and members of the Magen David Adom national ambulance service were out vaccinating in other communities where clinics were scarce.
“The cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the HMOs, the IDF and the authorities allows Magen David Adom to continue to lead the vaccination campaigns in the most comprehensive manner,” said MDA director Eli Bin.
Over the coming months Israel is expecting the delivery of six million doses of vaccine from the American company Moderna, several million doses from the British company AstraZaneca, and more doses of the Pfizer vaccine with the goal of getting the country immunized and end the pandemic before the summer.
