Israel Seeks Vaccine for Coronavirus, Will Fast-Track Its Production

By: Aryeh Savir

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened on Sunday a large-scale discussion including ministers, ministry director generals and all relevant staff officials on Israel’s preparations to deal with the Coronavirus, which has claimed over 300 lives in China where it originated.

The primary conclusion decided upon during the meeting was the need to quickly find a vaccine for the virus and to build a plant to manufacture them

Netanyahu stated that Israel’s “foremost goal is to postpone the arrival of the virus to Israel. I say ‘postpone’ because its arrival is unavoidable. We will then identify, treat, isolate and deal with those infected.”

He expressed appreciation for China’s effort to prevent the spread of the virus, although the spread is “apparently inevitable in the sense that we will need to deal with it soon.”

Despite several scares, Israel has yet to contend with a patient suffering from Corona, with several people tested for the virus all proving negative.

The discussion also dealt with the procedures designed to isolate those who have been infected and treat them, including isolation for two weeks at home, the closing of land crossings, seaports and airports to arrivals from China.

Israel is also updating the Palestinian Authority on all preventive steps and public health measures that they must take into account as well.

“I am making it clear that the State of Israel, as of now, has moved ahead of the world on many things, also in dealing with this issue and we intend to do so on another matter,” Netanyahu said.

He has instructed the Biological Institute and the Health Ministry to work on producing a vaccine for the virus and setting up a plant to manufacture them.

“It could be that on this issue as well, if we work fast enough, with the appropriate budgeting and the talented people we have, the State of Israel will be ahead of the world,” he added.

Netanyahu assigned to the National Security Council (NSC) the responsibility for coordinating preparations to deal with the virus, the sole authority which will lead the issue.

He also instructed that there be minimal bureaucracy on the required decisions, stressing that “over-readiness was preferable to under-readiness.”

China’s National Health Commission stated Wednesday that at least 14,650 cases of Wuhan coronavirus have been confirmed in the country, including at least 305 deaths.

The Coronavirus death rate is 2% or one death in every 50 cases, but this is a very early estimate.

                 (Tazpit Press Service)