Israel
authorises use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine
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[January 05, 2021]
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's health
ministry has authorised a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker
Moderna Inc, the company and an Israeli official said, marking the
vaccine's third regulatory authorisation and the first outside North
America.
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"Ministry of Health of Israel has secured 6 million doses and first
deliveries (are) expected to begin in January," Moderna said in a
statement on Monday.
Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said he had no knowledge of
shipments arriving this month.
"To my regret, we will likely only see the company's shipment in two
months," Edelstein told reporters. "As soon as the vaccines arrive
we will use them happily and if the company wants to move the
arrival forward we will be happy to receive notification."
The director-general of Israel’s health ministry, Hezi Levy,
confirmed the import agreement. Interviewed by radio station 103FM,
he declined to give details of the size of the shipment and said the
date of its arrival was under discussion.
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Moderna has received authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine in the
United States and Canada and additional authorisations are under
review in the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland and Britain.
Israel has begun to vaccinate its population at one of the quickest
rates in the world, and it aims to reach all vulnerable citizens by
late January. Authorities started vaccinations on Dec. 19 using the
vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jan/05/images/ads/current/peasleymemorials_lda100213.png) Israel has also imposed a third
national lockdown to fight climbing infection
rates. Edelstein called for an immediate
tightening of restrictions, with any final
decision pending a cabinet meeting due later on
Tuesday.
The Bank of Israel said on Monday it expected
the economy to rebound quickly in 2021 if the
fast start to vaccinating people against
COVID-19 was maintained.
Israel, which has a population of about 9
million, has reported more than 450,000 COVID-19
cases and 3,448 deaths from the disease.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and
Maayan Lubell and Dan Williams in Jerusalem,
Editing by Robert Birsel and Timothy Heritage)
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