What do you ask Israel’s vaccination chief when Corona is currently under control in his country – and then the conflict with Palestine escalates? First of all, are you and your family safe? “Security is relative,” says Boaz Lev (73). The doctor and health manager is sitting in his office in Jerusalem, the interview takes place via video call. Bunkers protect against the hail of rockets from Hamas, but Lev is depressed as the violence spills onto the streets. Arab and Jewish Israelis attack each other. “That will keep us busy for the long term. We’re brothers and neighbors! ” That is a “real problem”. Lev says it as if there weren’t any more.
The Corona crisis dominates most countries, in Israel you now have the highest vaccination rate in the world. How is life apart from the current tensions?
Boaz Lev: Like in old times! Schools are open, restaurants are open, soccer games are taking place. We will probably soon abolish the “green pass”, which is still required for many activities.
Where else do you feel Corona?
The borders are still closed and we are concerned about the new variants. We’re watching that very closely. But other than that, life is very normal. Unfortunately, normality is also reflected in the current riots on the street.
You paid a certain price for this freedom.
I wouldn’t speak of a price!
But you struck before approval and quickly received large quantities of vaccine in exchange for patient data.
Yes, but this is not personal information. It’s all about statistical data – like how many people will be infected after the first or second dose. These are data that are of public interest and concern the effectiveness of the vaccine. I think that’s something the world needs. Thanks to Israel, it is clear what the security risks are and how effective the vaccine is.
Is it true that you paid almost twice as much per dose as the EU?
The contracts are very confidential, I have no insight into them. But if you ask me, any price would have been worth it. Lives are more important than money. That we have our life back, that we can meet other people again and go outside without fear is priceless.
Almost 60 percent of the population are fully vaccinated. How did you manage that Importing, storing and distributing vaccination doses so quickly?
The logistics were difficult, but doable. We sent the deliveries, which have to be cooled down to -80 degrees, directly to places where many people could be vaccinated at the same time. The decisive factor, however, was that our health system is digitized. We recorded previous illnesses, education, etc. of every person – that made it easier to communicate with people and, depending on the group, to get them to the right place at the right time to vaccinate.
But now your vaccination numbers have been falling for weeks. You currently only distribute an average of 0.06 cans per 100 inhabitants per day. Why is that?
Most of those who are eligible for the vaccination have already received the vaccination in whole or in part. Of course, there are still no children. About 0.5 to 1 percent do not pick up their second dose of vaccine because of side effects or misinformation. And a few hundred thousand people completely reject vaccinations or the corona vaccination in particular. But that’s not a big problem. We can easily keep the 40 cases we have a day in check. We are more concerned that the world around us is not vaccinated and that new varieties are emerging. That is why we continue to protect our borders well, have clear test and quarantine rules and sequence a lot so that we really have an overview of the infection process.
Ultra-Orthodox and the Arab minority were seen as drivers of the pandemic. How did you manage to get these two groups to have a high vaccination rate too?
The government has been very aggressive in the media, speaking to religious leaders and influential people like mayors. There was a lot of fake news in these communities – such as that vaccinations affect fertility. We had to fight it with a lot of information. But real change was – unfortunately – caused by deaths or miscarriages among infected pregnant women. This has probably given the vaccination campaign in these groups the greatest boost.
Are vaccination opponents a big problem in general?
They are very loud, but not very strong – as you can see from the vaccination rate. The bigger problem is the issue of vaccinations for children. This is an extremely sensitive subject. Many people who are not fundamentally against vaccinations still reject the corona vaccination for children because children rarely get seriously ill. But we really want to vaccinate children because otherwise we have no chance of herd immunity.
Could any Western country have vaccinated as efficiently as Israel?
No, I do not think so. A strong health system is required for this. And the vaccine is limited. We were lucky that we are so small and that we got so many deliveries straight away.
Switzerland has fewer inhabitants and also has a good health system. Nevertheless, only just under 13 percent are fully vaccinated. Could we have done better?
I really can’t say that. For a successful vaccination campaign, you have to take risks in many ways – for example, buying vaccines that have not yet been approved. We negotiated with the manufacturers in April or May a year ago. Back then there was no vaccine at all. In retrospect, of course, that was the right way to go. And no matter what we paid for it, it was all worth it.
Israel has also tried to develop its own vaccine. What is the state of affairs there?
It is still in clinical testing, shortly before the third phase. I don’t know how effective it is yet. In principle, however, we would also like to be able to manufacture and also produce our own vaccine for future pandemics. Building this infrastructure is complex and costly, but important.
Israel also vaccinates Palestinians. However, with Moderna instead of Biontech. Why?
Simply because it was available. We also vaccinated the Israelis for data collection with Biontech / Pfizer, and then we started Moderna for the Palestinian workers in Israel. The best corona vaccine is the one that can be got the fastest. My daughter in London, for example, was vaccinated with Astrazeneca. That is also a good choice.
Will the rocket strikes change the vaccinations for Palestinians?
I hope not! But at the same time the situation is very unstable right now. This is an important issue and the whole world should work to vaccinate countries like Palestine. It is in our own interest that the countries around us are vaccinated, otherwise they can be a gateway for infection.
Boaz Lev (73) heads the Israeli corona vaccine task force, and has worked in various positions for the Ministry of Health in Jerusalem since 1994. The specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases belonged to the first year of the Tel Aviv University School of Medicine and gained practical experience in Boston (USA) and Minneapolis (USA). Lev is the father of four children – “they all take care of people in one way or another”.