London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 06, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Nationwide Protests Erupt in Brazil Demanding Presidential Resignation
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Mystery Surrounds Death of Brazilian Woman with iPhones Glued to Her Body
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
U.S. Opens Official Investigation into Former Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith
Leaked audio of Canada's new PM Mark Carney admitting the truth about the Net Zero agenda: "We're gonna make a lot of money off of this."
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Absolutely 100% Realistic EVO Series Doll by EXDOLL (Chinese Company) used mainly for carnal purposes
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab: "In this new world, we must accept... total transparency. You have to get used to it. You have to behave accordingly. But if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be afraid."
Meet Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Office for Standards in Education in Pakistan
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
Decline in Tourism in Majorca Amidst Ongoing Anti-Tourism Protests
×