Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured a coronavirus ward at a Jerusalem hospital on Thursday, vowing to do his utmost to ensure Israelis will get access to a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, as soon as possible. Netanyahu said the target date to begin widespread vaccination drives is early 2021.
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"I am impressed by the progress of the medical teams and I have been encouraged by the progress at the Israel Institute for Biological Research toward developing a vaccine," the prime minister said. "I have instructed the authorities to take action in order to fund the vaccine trials, including by selling it to other nations, and move forward with the development; we will set up a production line locally for the vaccine," he continued.
Former Health Ministry Director General Professor Ronni Gamzu, who was tapped by Netanyahu to lead the efforts against the pandemic, toured with him.
The announcement came just hours after the Defense Ministry gave a green light to move ahead with the vaccine it had been developing and start human clinical trials.
"I have instructed the institute to continue with the development and conduct the trials, with the goal of having safe vaccines for all Israelis by the first quarter of 2021," Netanyahu said, "things have so far been on schedule."
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