Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Israel says it has vaccinated 7% of its population against Covid, it's less than 1% in U.S.

Israel says it has vaccinated 7% of its population against Covid, it's less than 1% in U.S.

"Our main advantage is that we have a centralized health-care system," said Eran Segal, a computational biologist in Rehovot, Israel.

Israel has already immunized about 647,000 people against Covid-19, a whopping 7% of its more than 9.2 million residents — more than any other country in the world per capita, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health.

The ministry boasted that it vaccinated more people in the first nine days of its campaign that than its total infections. Israel has had about 420,000 confirmed Covid-19 infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“We are ahead of the world in bringing and giving the vaccines. Israel is the world champion in vaccines, in first place by a lot,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday. “My mission now is to ensure that we will continue at this pace and we are working on it together.”

In stark contrast, the U.S. has vaccinated roughly 0.8% of its population of 331 million against Covid-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the agency cautions that the figure could lag actual vaccinations as states report the data. Still, federal officials have acknowledged in recent days that the rollout has been slower than desired.

While Israel’s population is just slightly larger than New Jersey’s, the nation’s success in rapidly rolling out the first doses to a large portion of its population could hold lessons for countries like the U.S.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University school of medicine and health services, on Thursday pointed to Israel as a potential model for the world.

“Israel is leading the world. They are vaccinating, on a per capita basis, 15 times faster than the United States,” he said on CNN. “They’ve already vaccinated 20% of their population over the age of 60. It would be as if we had already vaccinated about 15 million Americans over the age of 60.”

Centralized system


Israel’s main advantage is its centralized health-care system, said Eran Segal, a computational biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Segal has been closely monitoring Israel’s response since the beginning of the pandemic.

“As someone who lived for about a decade in the U.S., I know that in the U.S., it’s much more scattered. There are probably thousands of organizations,” he said in a phone interview.

Segal noted that Israel, in contrast, has a more simplified insurance system, too, with just four health maintenance organizations. Segal noted that Israel’s health-care system is highly digital, with everyone over age 18 legally required to register with one of the four HMOs. He added that Israel’s government has coordinated well with the HMOs and local officials, calling in army medics to assist where needed.

In the U.S., the first days of the rollout were marred by confusion among governors and state officials over how many doses each state was receiving. Eventually, Gen. Gustave Perna, who oversees logistics for President Donald Trump’s vaccine program Operation Warp Speed, took the blame for the miscommunication.

While distribution has progressed more smoothly since then, states are administering shots at a slower-than-expected pace. Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, said it’s not clear what’s slowing the process. She noted that the federal government could help states set up more supplemental vaccination sites.

Vaccination ‘field clinics’


Segal said Israel established field clinics to distribute the vaccine. The Israeli Ministry of Health said Monday that the country will open 150 so-called vaccination complexes.

Health Minister Yoel Edelstein said in a statement this week that Israel is the first country to repackage doses of the vaccine into more easily transportable containers that allow the country to move the vaccines outside of hospitals and into more accessible clinics. “This way we will reach everywhere around the country without losing precious vaccines and Israel will be the leading country worldwide in vaccination,” Edelstein said.



In the U.S., most vaccinations are being administered in hospitals or medical centers where health-care workers are receiving the first doses. Recently, some outpatient urgent-care centers have begun vaccinating their staff, too.

CVS Health, Walgreens and other pharmacy chains have also partnered with the federal government to distribute shots to residents at long-term care facilities, though the CDC says the program is not yet fully up and running. The U.S. has signed contracts with pharmacy chains to administer the vaccines at retail locations across the country once the program expands to include members of the general public, but the program hasn’t launched yet.

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration will “set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard to reach communities.”

“This is going to be the greatest operational challenge we’ve ever faced as a nation,” he said this week. “We’re going to get it done. It’s going to take a vast new effort. It’s not yet underway.”


Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×