The debate over whether Israel needs to purchase millions more coronavirus vaccine doses continued Wednesday, and Health Ministry officials have differing opinionsabout the length of the immunity the vaccines provide.
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In response to criticism that the country will end up with a surplus of inoculations, officials involved in the procurement process told Israel Hayom on Tuesday that at this point, the assumption was that the jabs would most likely need to be administered every six months.
Officials also said that, contrary to various reports that estimated the price of additional vaccine doses at 3.5 billion shekels ($1.09 billion), the actual sum was "much lower."
If the country does end up with a surplus of doses, vaccine contracts include clauses that allow Israel to sell the inoculations to other countries and receive payment in return. It will also be able to store vaccine doses at low temperatures and postpose the delivery of the orders.
"There is no inoculation shortage at the moment," Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levy said. "We placed several orders for which we have to pay, and there are orders that have arrived already."
Addressing claims that the government was purchasing too many vaccines, Levy said Israel was "purchasing from several companies. It is not possible to only buy [vaccines] from one, God forbid something happens, we wouldn't be able to vaccinate [the population]."
Anyone who thinks vaccines are not crucial for next year doesn't know what he is talking about, because only thanks to the vaccination campaign were Israelis able to celebrate Passover with family, Levy said.
Also on Tuesday, the Health Ministry announced that the country did not possess enough jabs to vaccinate Israelis over the age of 12, if studies indicate that the vaccine is safe and recommended for children.
"Following false reports regarding the number of vaccines available, we want to clarify, while adhering to the confidentiality agreements with vaccine manufacturers, that Israel only has inventory for the current immunization round.
"It is crucial to purchase millions more to prepare for various scenarios like booster shots, and vaccinating children over the age of 12 (after research and the FDA approve so) and variant-resistant vaccinations," the ministry said.
Adopting a different approach, former Health Ministry deputy director Professor Itamar Grotto said in an interview with local radio station 103FM said that more research was being published that proved the effectiveness of the vaccine lasted "for a year or several years."
"It is very likely that the vaccines will suffice for many years, and we will not need to vaccinate the children," he said. "On the other hand, there is a chance that we will need to purchase more vaccines. We need to find a balance and not opt for the most extreme scenario."
Meanwhile, it was unclear whether the education system will return to normal, as the head of public health services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said in an interview with Galgalatz radio that "children are not vaccinated, and we are in the middle of a pandemic that has to be managed responsibly and carefully."
If we observe no increase in the infection rate, Israel will continue to open the school system, and children will be able to study without pods, she said.
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