Moderna's COVID vaccine will likely become available in Israel in the first half of 2021, a Moderna official said Thursday.
Last month, Moderna became the first medical company to publish blueprints of their coronavirus vaccine studies, helped by a $2.5 billion US federal grant.
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Dr. Tal Zaks, chief medical officer at the Massachusetts-based company, told Ynet that while the firm did not have a precise timetable, the vaccine would "certainly" be available in Israel in the first half of 2021.
Earlier this week, Moderna said its vaccine could be given approval for emergency use in the US as early as December.
Meanwhile, Israel's Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) is set to begin clinical trials of its Brilife COVID vaccine by the end of the month, raising the possibility it will be ready before Moderna's will.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed new cases of coronavirus continued to drop, with the Health Ministry reporting on Friday that 895 Israelis had tested positive in the last 24-hours period, the lowest number since Monday this week. Of the over 32,000 tests processed the same 24-hour period, 2.8% returned positive results.
A total of 996 COVID patients were hospitalized as of Friday, 570 of whom were listed in serious condition. There were 223 patients on ventilators.
Since the start of the epidemic in Israel, 2,319 COVID patients have succumbed to the virus.
Meanwhile, fewer medical workers were in quarantine. As of Friday, the number was down to 985, including 130 doctors and 270 nurses.
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Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS.
