Translation to English

“Israel pays premium to secure vaccine and achieve highest vaccination rate… even Mossad gives a helping hand”

Jungwon Bae for JoongAng Ilbo
January 11, 2021

"Netanyahu negotiated even before Phase I clinical trials.
The premium amount paid is only two days’ worth of losses from lockdown in Israeli. Reducing the lockdown gives advantage in saving small businesses."

"The green passport (Corona Vaccination Certificate) will be the most important topic in the global economy this year. Countries that do not have green passports will likely fall behind in trade competition."

Mr. Topor, the Chairman of TCK Investments and a global investment expert from Israel, pointed out the similarities in industrial structure between Korea and Israel, both with large export sector.

"The Israeli government plans to start issuing green passports next week with the second vaccination. We should no longer delay person-to-person interactions, such as businessmen visiting overseas clients to discuss business and to sign agreements," he said on a telephone interview with JoongAng Ilbo on the 8th.

Israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world with 19.55% as of 10th of January. The figure is overwhelming compared to Bahrain (4.95%), the U.S. (2.02%), Britain (1.94%), China (0.63%), and France (0.12%). So far, more than 1.8 million of Israel's 9.3 million people have been vaccinated. For elders of age 60 or older, more than half were vaccinated.

This speed was possible because last year the nation had already secured vaccine supplies enough for the entire country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed on 8 million doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines in November, and 6 million doses of Moderna vaccines in December of last year. On December 19th, Prime Minister Netanyahu was the first person in his country to receive the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. And he has established a system that allows one doctor to inoculate a person every seven minutes.

Q: How did Israel become the top vaccination country?

“Netanyahu had already negotiated with the pharmaceutical companies before the phase 1 clinical trials began. In the process, he promised to cooperate with pharmaceutical companies to actively share the results and effects of the vaccinations. He even said, "Buy the vaccine at premium prices. Even if you pay double.” Israel paid 30 dollars compared to Europe (15 dollars) and the United States (20 dollars). He was criticized by some, but ultimately it was a wise move. The extra premium paid out was equivalent to a loss incurred if the Israeli economy was lock down for two days. In other words, the extra cost is dwarfed by the benefit of reducing lock down measures and saving SMEs.”

Q: Buying a vaccine even before Phase 1 of the clinical trial could be seen as a rash decision.

That`s because Netanyahu has a risk-taking business mindset. Even before the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we secured vaccines and stored them in our country, and started vaccinating people as soon as the FDA approved. Of course, everyone knew that in the worst-case scenario, they had to throw away all the vaccines. There was negative public opinion within Israel about Netanyahu's drive, but it was just groundless. Israel is not afraid to challenge itself, as the world's number one startup per population."

Q: What role did Mossad, the overseas intelligence and ops organization, play in securing the vaccine?

“Israel uses all of the government`s resources in the event of national security-related events. Mossad was involved in helping the state buy equipment and reach key people and information through its international networks."  

Mr. Topor's parents in their 70’s completed the first vaccination with the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine two weeks ago. "Both are healthy and in perfect condition," he said. "When people finish their second vaccination next week, they can get a green passport. So I have high expectations for that.”

Q: Is there any resistance from the people of Israel to being vaccinated?

“Everyone is actively participating in vaccinations. In the next two months, most adults are expected to be vaccinated. It's not my turn yet because I'm not in my 60s, but if I get a call, I'll respond without delay. Netanyahu is currently leading the transportation of the rest of the Pfizer vaccines, promising cooperation to share Israeli health system information with pharmaceutical companies. The Israeli data provided to Pfizer will be of great help to vaccinate other countries." 

Q: Contrary to the economic downturn due to COVID-19, asset prices such as real estate and stocks are skyrocketing.

“It`s not just Korea`s phenomenon. Rather, Korea joined the global asset bubble belatedly. Over the past five years, the global asset market has been swamped with money. This is actually a liquidity-driven problem rather than COVID-19. This is because central banks around the world are printing money at an unprecedented level. In a reasonable sense, there are currently no cheap assets. Everything is expensive. But that doesn't mean that the bubble will burst today. It's expensive now, but it could become more expensive in the future.” 

Q: Please advise on investment.

“Non-liquid assets should be avoided. Buying non-liquid assets at high prices will be the first to be hurt when inflation or interest rates go up. But even when investing in liquid stocks, you must be diversified in order to reduce risk. Don’t invest too much in one country, one sector or one company. We see a lot of interesting opportunities, but you must avoid taking too much risk even though it is very tempting"