Αssociated Press reports from Jerusalem that Israel paid tribute to the chief executive of international drug maker Pfizer Inc. during its Independence Day celebrations Wednesday, thanking him for a partnership that has helped the country carry out one of the world’s most successful coronavirus vaccination campaigns.
At Israel’s main Independence Day ceremony in Jerusalem, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla delivered a recorded video message broadcast on national TV: “Together we are demonstrating that through mass vaccination we can defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives.” Bourla, a son of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Thessaloniki in Greece, had reportedly been invited to attend in person as a representative of Diaspora Jewry but was unable to come.
In response to intense lobbying from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bourla agreed to provide Israel with enough Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines to inoculate the country of 9.3 million people. In return, Israel has agreed to share data from its campaign with Pfizer.
Israel has vaccinated more than three-quarters of its adult population in just over three months. Infection rates have plummeted, allowing the country to reopen its economy in recent weeks. Although Israel has come under some criticism for not sharing more of its vaccine supplies with the Palestinians, its vaccination campaign is widely seen as a success.
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