Israel was the fastest country in the entire world to vaccinate its population. As early as mid-February 2021, 50 vaccine doses per 100 inhabitants had been injected, when the country was vaccinating between 150,000 and 200,000 people per day, around the clock. The reason why Israel did so well was that the country bought many vaccine doses quickly.
Israeli promises to share data about their rapid vaccination campaign helped Israel secure a favourable supply agreement with Pfizer. The vaccine maker agreed to continue delivering the doses quickly in exchange for partial access to the large database of information maintained by the country’s national health system.
By the end of May 2021, 63 percent of the population had received at least one dose, which was twice the proportion of the population in Europe and six times the proportion of the rest of the world.
The country is also at the forefront when it comes to research against Covid and sharing its successes. Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have developed a rapid and cost-effective test to identify Covid-19 within hours instead of days.