"Israel to provide 700,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Korea at the end of this month"

Israeli daily Haretz reported on the 6th (local time) that Israel has decided to provide about 700,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which are nearing the expiration date, to South Korea.

According to reports, Israel signed the contract on the night of the 5th, and delivery of the vaccine will begin within a few days and will be completed by the end of the month.

Also, as part of the contract, Israel will receive back the same amount of Pfizer vaccines ordered by South Korea in September and October, Haretz said.

When Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the deal, he described it as a "win-win" and added that he plans to ensure adequate stock of the vaccine.

Earlier, Israel provided 1 million doses of the vaccine to the Palestinian Autonomous Government (PA), which failed to secure a vaccine early in the middle of last month, and held a 'vaccine exchange' to receive the same amount of vaccine to be delivered to Palestine between September and October. promoted.

However, the PA has rejected the vaccine, saying it does not meet its own standards as the expiration date of the vaccine Israel is trying to provide is short.

Since then, it has been known that three countries that need vaccines have contacted to secure Israeli stocks.

In this regard, Haretz reported that Israel has been negotiating with several countries, including the UK and the Czech Republic, in recent months to relieve the burden of residual vaccines.

The agreement between Israel and South Korea is about 700,000 doses, which is less than 1 million doses, because Israel is trying to secure the first dose for 12-15 year olds by the 9th, Haretz added.

Israel imported the Pfizer vaccine in December last year, and thanks to the world's highest vaccination rate, Israel began to gradually lift the lockdown in February and has since lifted the obligation to wear a mask indoors.

Then, as a series of cluster infections due to delta mutations (indian mutations) occurred at schools, mainly under the age of 16 who were not vaccinated, they restored the mandatory indoor mask last month and rushed to vaccinate 12-15 years old.