Vaccine rollout in Israel

[Bird on a Fire]

Over 1 million jabs already! About 12% of the population.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55514243

Obviously early access to doses has helped, but they've quickly got up to 150,000 doses a day so there must be some useful logistics lessons to learn here.

[jdc]

Wee bit of info here on the how: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/israel-l ... ion-813309

Existing benefits in the Israeli healthcare system have paid off dividend. The country’s health care system is highly digitised, which has helped speed the rollout. All citizens over 18 must be registered with one of four non-competing health insurance plans – known as Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs). When the vaccine became available, citizens received a text or voice message telling them to make an appointment. Those missed off the list could call, cite their HMO ID number, and register for the jab, according to the Telegraph.

As the operation is running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – including on Shabbat, to the chagrin of some observers – the nation has ploughed through the at risk list, with teachers now being added to the priority group.

Further expansion of the programme will see it expand beyond large, central locations. By the end of the week, 250 sites are expected to be operating throughout the country.

Not much, but that's the most I've found so far.

[Bird on a Fire]

Nice, thanks.

Having everybody registered in advance does sound like a helpful start. Though I expect in the UK almost everybody in the priority groups - the older and iller folk - will tend towards very high GP registration rates, so most places shouldn't struggle too much with this.

I think I'm most interested in personnel - does Israel have a lot of spare capacity? Did they suddenly train extra workers, or bring people out of retirement? I suspect it's trained staff and organisational issues that will be the major holdups in places. (Plus whatever the UK government is doing messing around with the schedules)

[Herainestold]

Not for the Palestinians though..

Israel is celebrating an impressive, record-setting vaccination drive, having given initial jabs of coronavirus shots to more than a 10th of the population. But Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza can only watch and wait.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... o-settlers

[jdc]

Nice, thanks.

Having everybody registered in advance does sound like a helpful start. Though I expect in the UK almost everybody in the priority groups - the older and iller folk - will tend towards very high GP registration rates, so most places shouldn't struggle too much with this.

I think I'm most interested in personnel - does Israel have a lot of spare capacity? Did they suddenly train extra workers, or bring people out of retirement? I suspect it's trained staff and organisational issues that will be the major holdups in places. (Plus whatever the UK government is doing messing around with the schedules)

We've aimed for 12/7 rather than 24/7; some PCNs opted out; we had phased introduction so it was hospitals first then about a fifth of the PCNs were due to join in, then maybe some more PCNs later on; we also had complaints from retired medics about red tape putting them off: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... out-target

So personnel-wise we're missing some PCNs (all of them at first, then most of them, and eventually it should be just the ones who opted out) and we've failed to recruit as many retired medics as we could.

[MartinDurkin]

Nice, thanks.

Having everybody registered in advance does sound like a helpful start. Though I expect in the UK almost everybody in the priority groups - the older and iller folk - will tend towards very high GP registration rates, so most places shouldn't struggle too much with this.

I think I'm most interested in personnel - does Israel have a lot of spare capacity? Did they suddenly train extra workers, or bring people out of retirement? I suspect it's trained staff and organisational issues that will be the major holdups in places. (Plus whatever the UK government is doing messing around with the schedules)

We've aimed for 12/7 rather than 24/7; some PCNs opted out; we had phased introduction so it was hospitals first then about a fifth of the PCNs were due to join in, then maybe some more PCNs later on; we also had complaints from retired medics about red tape putting them off: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... out-target

So personnel-wise we're missing some PCNs (all of them at first, then most of them, and eventually it should be just the ones who opted out) and we've failed to recruit as many retired medics as we could.

Anecdotally, my friend is a retired EM consultant and she investigated volunteering to help organise vaccinations locally. The paperwork was off-putting, and she failed on several counts, including being up to date on preventing radicalisation.

[Beaker]

My Israeli colleague has already had the first jab. He got first and second appointments at the same time.

Lots of local clinics. Apparently they are not going via hospitals as it is harder to arrange the follow up for the second dose. If there aren’t enough of the target population available, they will bring in whoever is available to make sure no dose or treatment capacity goes to waste.

[EACLucifer]

Not for the Palestinians though..

Israel is celebrating an impressive, record-setting vaccination drive, having given initial jabs of coronavirus shots to more than a 10th of the population. But Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza can only watch and wait.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... o-settlers

That's because Israel is not responsible for vaccinating Palestinians in the Palestinian territories, who are not, in fact, Israeli. That responsibility got transferred thirty years ago with the Oslo accords, and the PA has it's own plan for vaccinating it's own population.

[Millennie Al]

Not for the Palestinians though..

Israel is celebrating an impressive, record-setting vaccination drive, having given initial jabs of coronavirus shots to more than a 10th of the population. But Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza can only watch and wait.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... o-settlers

That's because Israel is not responsible for vaccinating Palestinians in the Palestinian territories, who are not, in fact, Israeli. That responsibility got transferred thirty years ago with the Oslo accords, and the PA has it's own plan for vaccinating it's own population.

But wouldn't it be a huge proaganda coup to help the Palestinians in their hour of need?

[raven]

Lots of local clinics. Apparently they are not going via hospitals as it is harder to arrange the follow up for the second dose. If there aren’t enough of the target population available, they will bring in whoever is available to make sure no dose or treatment capacity goes to waste.

We should do that. We have this network of local GPs we could use and everything.

(Our GPs were great at organising flu clinics this year. Did them in villages halls, kept admin to an absolute minimum by giving you a half-hour slot to turn up in, said don't call if you can't make it we'll just call you up for the next clinic until we've got everyone done, just let us know if you've had the jab already so we can take you off the list. Got everybody down to 50 yr olds done before Christmas I think. Also very aware of who their vulnerable patients are: a neighbour with multiple risk factors was in the surgery back in September getting a dressing done, and a second nurse walked in, gave her the shot then and there.)

[shpalman]

a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine may be providing less protection than originally hoped, as the country reported a record 10,000 new Covid infections on Monday

[monkey]

a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine may be providing less protection than originally hoped, as the country reported a record 10,000 new Covid infections on Monday

I'd like to see an age breakdown of that. It might not be spreading in the vaccinated demographics, but the young people are making up for it.

[Bird on a Fire]

I started this thread purely because I was impressed with the rapid rollout, but seeing as Palestine has already been mentioned, I was reading a Reality Check which gives a bit of extra clarity on the situation with Palestine from the beeb: Covid-19: Why are Palestinians not getting vaccines?

Israel leads the world in terms of the number of doses per head of population.

However, with the exception of those in East Jerusalem, no-one in the Palestinian areas has started receiving Covid vaccines.

All Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem are entitled to be vaccinated against Covid by Israel, as are medics working at the six Palestinian hospitals there - many of whom come from other parts of the West Bank and Gaza.

This is because Palestinians in East Jerusalem have Israeli residency status - so those living there pay Israeli taxes and have access to Israeli health insurance.

Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority is doing deals with private companies, as well as with the WHO's Covax scheme, but no delivery dates confirmed yet and the occupation and blockade raise additional logistical challenges:

The Palestinian Ministry of Health - which operates in the West Bank - said in a statement that they are doing deals with four companies that will provide enough vaccine for 70% of its people, although it's not clear when they will arrive.

A delivery of 5,000 Russian-made vaccine doses has arrived and some doses are being given out, but it's unclear at the moment who is receiving them.

The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have said they expect to vaccinate about 20% of the population with doses supplied under the Covax scheme, backed by the WHO.

This is an international effort to get vaccines to poorer countries, who may not have been able to secure enough supplies on their own.

However, the global vaccine alliance Gavi, which backs Covax, was not able to confirm to the BBC how much the Palestinian areas would get, and when.

The WHO told the BBC that vaccines supplied under the Covax scheme, as well as those procured by the Palestinian authorities, would go to Gaza.

However, it is faced with the logistical challenges of the restrictions imposed on the area, which has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since the militant Islamist movement Hamas took charge there in 2007.

Migrant workers still unvaccinated:

There have been calls to give jabs to the thousands of Palestinian workers who cross into Israel for work, including a significant number in the construction industry, who have been cut off by lockdown restrictions.

Around 133,000 Palestinians work in Israel and its settlements in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Most cross over to Israel from the West Bank on a daily basis.

Ultimately:

Whose responsibility is it to vaccinate Palestinians?

The United Nations (UN) human rights body has released a statement saying it's Israel's responsibility to provide equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The body says differential access is "morally and legally" unacceptable under international law laid out in the Geneva Conventions on the regulation of occupied territories.

But Israeli health minister, Yuli Edelstein, told the BBC: "We can also look into the so-called Oslo agreements where it says loud and clear that the Palestinians have to take care of their own health."

The Oslo accords - which Israel signed with the Palestine Liberation Organisation - give the Palestinian Authority oversight of public health under the principles of self-determination.

But the Palestinian authorities point to another part of those accords which says: "Israel and the Palestinian side shall exchange information regarding epidemics and contagious diseases, shall co-operate in combating them and shall develop methods for [the] exchange of medical files and documents."

The Oslo accords, agreed in 1993 and 1995, set out how parts of the West Bank and Gaza would be governed under an interim framework until a permanent peace settlement can be reached.

But UN experts say international law takes priority over these accords.

The experts say the fourth Geneva Convention is specific about the duty of the occupying power to provide healthcare, but Israel often argues it isn't technically occupying the West Bank and Gaza.

So really it's just more of the same in terms of Israel-Palestine relations: no co-operation, even where it would obviously be mutually beneficial (e.g. migrant workers), and impotent objections from the international community.

[tom p]

I bet those illegal settler bastards are getting vaccinated

[Bird on a Fire]

I bet those illegal settler bastards are getting vaccinated

Yes, of course they are. Israel just views illegal settler bastards as typical Israelis, which is pretty antisemitic of them if you think about it

[tom p]

I bet those illegal settler bastards are getting vaccinated

Yes, of course they are. Israel just views illegal settler bastards as typical Israelis, which is pretty antisemitic of them if you think about it

Hold on. I'm confused. I thought it was the responsibility of the Palestinian authority to vaccinate those in the West Bank & Gaza Strip.
Now you're saying that the Israeli government is actually vaccinating some people in those territories.
Anyone might think they were a bunch of dishonest racist bastards.

[jdc]

Updated table from yesterday. Israel still top of the league obv. UAE not far behind, helped by the UK luxury vaccine holidays of course.

[shpalman]

Israel says it is transferring 5,000 doses of Covid vaccine to immunise frontline Palestinian health workers.

[jdc]

a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine may be providing less protection than originally hoped, as the country reported a record 10,000 new Covid infections on Monday

I'd like to see an age breakdown of that. It might not be spreading in the vaccinated demographics, but the young people are making up for it.

a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine may be providing more protection than we thought. NB: not been peer-reviewed.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... er-21-days

One dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gives people about 90% protection from Covid by 21 days, according to an analysis of Israel’s mass vaccination programme.

The data analysis, carried out by researchers from the University of East Anglia with UK government funding, runs counter to an earlier study from Israel which suggested that one dose may not give adequate protection.

Prof Nachman Ash, in charge of the Israeli vaccination effort, said last month that a single dose appeared “less effective than we had thought”, and was also lower than Pfizer had suggested. Pfizer had said efficacy was 52% after a single dose.

But Prof Paul Hunter and Dr Julii Brainard say their reanalysis of the data, which has not been peer-reviewed, shows high protection just before the second dose was given at 21 days. However, they warn that the risk of infection doubled in the first eight days after vaccination – possibly because people became less cautious.

Preprint here https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 21250957v1

[EACLucifer]

I started this thread purely because I was impressed with the rapid rollout, but seeing as Palestine has already been mentioned, I was reading a Reality Check which gives a bit of extra clarity on the situation with Palestine from the beeb: Covid-19: Why are Palestinians not getting vaccines?

Israel leads the world in terms of the number of doses per head of population.

However, with the exception of those in East Jerusalem, no-one in the Palestinian areas has started receiving Covid vaccines.

All Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem are entitled to be vaccinated against Covid by Israel, as are medics working at the six Palestinian hospitals there - many of whom come from other parts of the West Bank and Gaza.

This is because Palestinians in East Jerusalem have Israeli residency status - so those living there pay Israeli taxes and have access to Israeli health insurance.

Public health has been the responsibility of the PA for decades. It really is as simple as that. The Palestinian authorities have not asked Israel for vaccines.

Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority is doing deals with private companies, as well as with the WHO's Covax scheme, but no delivery dates confirmed yet and the occupation and blockade raise additional logistical challenges:

The Palestinian Ministry of Health - which operates in the West Bank - said in a statement that they are doing deals with four companies that will provide enough vaccine for 70% of its people, although it's not clear when they will arrive.

A delivery of 5,000 Russian-made vaccine doses has arrived and some doses are being given out, but it's unclear at the moment who is receiving them.

The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have said they expect to vaccinate about 20% of the population with doses supplied under the Covax scheme, backed by the WHO.

This is an international effort to get vaccines to poorer countries, who may not have been able to secure enough supplies on their own.

However, the global vaccine alliance Gavi, which backs Covax, was not able to confirm to the BBC how much the Palestinian areas would get, and when.

The WHO told the BBC that vaccines supplied under the Covax scheme, as well as those procured by the Palestinian authorities, would go to Gaza.

However, it is faced with the logistical challenges of the restrictions imposed on the area, which has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since the militant Islamist movement Hamas took charge there in 2007.

Medicines, like most things, are allowed across the border. Israel has additionally committed to ensuring vaccines reach the PA. The list of things subject to blockade is quite short, and I'm not aware of it at any point including medicines.

Migrant workers still unvaccinated:

There have been calls to give jabs to the thousands of Palestinian workers who cross into Israel for work, including a significant number in the construction industry, who have been cut off by lockdown restrictions.

Around 133,000 Palestinians work in Israel and its settlements in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Most cross over to Israel from the West Bank on a daily basis.

Ultimately:

Whose responsibility is it to vaccinate Palestinians?

The United Nations (UN) human rights body has released a statement saying it's Israel's responsibility to provide equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The United Nations Human Rights Council literally praised China's atrocities against the Uighurs. I would say their opinion is worthless, but it's not, it's worth less than that. It is of negative worth.

So really it's just more of the same in terms of Israel-Palestine relations: no co-operation, even where it would obviously be mutually beneficial (e.g. migrant workers), and impotent objections from the international community.

Perhaps the Palestinian Authority should not have withdrawn from cooperation last year, then?

Israel cannot force the Palestinian Authority to cooperate, and running the vaccination of Palestinians out of Israel would be the best way to destroy trust in the vaccines, due to the mistrust of Israel, some of which is legitimate and justified, and some of which is "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" type stuff.

[shpalman]

FB_IMG_1613165368368.jpg (50.22 KiB) Viewed 2880 times

From a "refutations to anti-vaccine memes" Facebook group.

[Herainestold]

My how times change, Israel is considering going into lock down again.

The possibility of imposing a lockdown in two weeks' time was discussed in Israel's corona cabinet, Channel 13 reported on Wednesday evening.
Construction and Housing Minister Ze'ev Elkin is reportedly in favor of the move, as infection models have predicted a lockdown will be necessary in any case by September.
It is also reported that officials in the Health Ministry are supportive of a lockdown, in order to motivate Israelis who have not yet received a third vaccine dose to get the jab.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz stated earlier on Wednesday that a lockdown is "a last resort" and described a fourth lockdown as a "dramatic move with dire consequences."

Delta is nasty, third jab and more lockdown. At least the Israelis take it seriously

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/isr ... ort-675848

[Martin_B]

Delta is nasty, third jab and more lockdown. At least the Israelis take it seriously

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/isr ... ort-675848

WHO calls for booster pause to vaccinate poorer nations

[Herainestold]

Delta is nasty, third jab and more lockdown. At least the Israelis take it seriously

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/isr ... ort-675848

WHO calls for booster pause to vaccinate poorer nations

I would agree with the WHO position. Developed nations can afford to hold off on boosters and should be sending as many doses as possible to the developing world. We can manage with our current vaccine coverage and additional NPIs.

[shpalman]

Delta is nasty, third jab and more lockdown. At least the Israelis take it seriously

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/isr ... ort-675848

WHO calls for booster pause to vaccinate poorer nations

If we assume 9 months coverage after the second dose our health care workers' Green Passes will start expiring in late September...