Translation to English

“Israel has the highest vaccination rate- what’s the secret to its speedy vaccination campaign?”

Sora Im for JTBC News
January 8, 2021

[Anchor]
The country that is vaccinating its people the fastest in the world is Israel. This speedy move has been possible thanks to the government’s decision to reach multinational pharmaceutical companies faster and earlier than others for aggressive negotiations for vaccines.

Our Sora Im has more on this.

[Reporter]
In an interview with JTBC, Ohad Topor, one of the globally renowned investment specialists from Israel and chairman of Topor & Co. Korea, explains how Israel has secured vaccines.

The Israeli government dispatched negotiation teams to multinational pharmaceutical companies even before their vaccines were fully developed.

[Ohad Topor / Chairman of Topor & Co. Korea]
Even in the 1st stage of Moderna vaccine, the government sent negotiation teams to Moderna and to the other companies to persuade them why they should sell Israel the vaccine.

[Reporter]
The teams made three points- digitalized medical data, a well-organized public healthcare system, and people from diverse backgrounds.

Finally, they successfully signed a contract. Yet, they paid almost double what US and EU countries did. Though it created some controversy at first, it was the right call after all.

[Ohad Topor / Chairman of Topor & Co. Korea]
The extra 15 dollars (when totaled) is only the price of 2 days of lockdown. So, it’s a very good business decision.

[Reporter]
Israel has a healthcare system where a single doctor can administer the vaccine to a person every 7 minutes. Already, more than 10% of the population has been vaccinated. It means Israel may become the first country to develop herd immunity against COVID19.

Though more pricey, it’s a quicker way to combat the virus and lessen economic losses. In addition, a green pass is being granted to those vaccinated.

[Ohad Topor / Chairman of Topor & Co. Korea]
This will be a chance for some countries to jump ahead because, if one country has green passports and others don’t, they’ll start doing more business.

[Reporter]
Meanwhile, Israel has just begun its third nationwide lockdown. Despite all the vaccination efforts, it seems that social distancing and masks will remain the most essential vaccine to the end.