Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jul 22, 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

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
×