Listen • 4:29
Israelis receive a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from medical professionals at a vaccination center set up on a mall parking lot in Givataim, Israel, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, on Jan. 20.
How has tiny Israel beat out bigger countries on COVID-19 vaccinations, securing a steady stream of vials and inoculating a larger share of its citizenry than any other nation?
Israel paid a premium, locked in an early supply of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and struck a unique deal: vaccines for data.
The nation of some 9 million promised Pfizer a swift vaccine rollout, along with data from Israel s centralized trove of medical statistics to study whether herd immunity is achieved after reaching a certain percentage of vaccination coverage in Israel, according to their agreement.
Image credit: Oded Balilty
Stay tuned in to our local news coverage: Listen to 90.7 WMFE on your FM or HD radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker say “Alexa, play NPR” and you’ll be connected.
How has tiny Israel beat out bigger countries on COVID-19 vaccinations, securing a steady stream of vials and inoculating a larger share of its citizenry than any other nation?
Israel paid a premium, locked in an early supply of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and struck a unique deal: vaccines for data.
The nation of some 9 million promised Pfizer a swift vaccine rollout, along with data from Israel’s centralized trove of medical statistics to study “whether herd immunity is achieved after reaching a certain percentage of vaccination coverage in Israel,” according to their agreement.
Vaccines For Data: Israel s Pfizer Deal Drives Quick Rollout â And Privacy Worries
at 3:01 am NPR
How has tiny Israel beat out bigger countries on COVID-19 vaccinations, securing a steady stream of vials and inoculating a larger share of its citizenry than any other nation?
Israel paid a premium, locked in an early supply of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and struck a unique deal: vaccines for data.
The nation of some 9 million promised Pfizer a swift vaccine rollout, along with data from Israel s centralized trove of medical statistics to study whether herd immunity is achieved after reaching a certain percentage of vaccination coverage in Israel, according to their agreement.
AILSA CHANG, HOST: In order to secure the coronavirus vaccine for its people, Israel made a deal that leverages its population s health data, which concerns some privacy experts there. But it s helped the country give the first vaccine doses to more than a quarter of its population. That s a bigger share than in any other country. NPR s Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem reports on what the vaccine makers get in return.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Jerusalem s main sports stadium is a hive of needles and nurses vaccinating 14 hours a day.
YONI BOIGENMAN: It s great. I mean, to be the first place in the world is a good feeling.