Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Pfizer chief executive officer Albert Bourla recently, to discuss strategies for combating the Delta variant or ‘Indian Variant’ of the coronavirus, as well as the possibility of solving Israel’s looming vaccine crisis through a jab trade with another country.
The two spoke several times over the last few days, with Prime Minister Bennett thanking Bourla for his close cooperation with Israel to bring doses of the vaccine earlier this year.
During their talks, Bennett and Bourla focused on plans for combating the recent outbreaks of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, including possible imports of additional doses of the COVID vaccine.
In addition, Bennett and the Pfizer chief discussed possible arrangements whereby Israel could solve its ‘vaccine crisis’ – finding a use for hundreds of thousands of doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will expire later this month if not used.
One possibility broached during the talks would be a vaccine trade, whereby Israel would ship the doses to another country, which would then use the doses immediately, then ship its own doses with a later expiry date to Israel.