Israel Sends 700,000 Pfizer Vaccine Doses to South Korea

A planeload of Pfizer vaccines was on its way from Israel to South Korea on Tuesday morning, hours after the two countries struck a deal for a swap. The 700,000 vaccine doses being sent from Israel are due to expire at the end of the month. In exchange for the Israeli vaccine doses, Seoul will send an equal number of shots to Israel when the company fills its order later this year. The Palestinian Authority rejected a similar deal last month. The agreement was brokered by Israel’s Health Ministry in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council and the Prime Minister’s Office, with the knowledge of Pfizer, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has spoken with Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla several times recently in order to facilitate the deal and to discuss the formation of future vaccines policy, the statement also said.