Israeli Hospital Orders 1.5 Million Doses of Russian Vaccine

While initially drawing scorn and ridicule from other countries upon its release, the coronavirus vaccine developed and released by Russia in August has apparently impressed at least one major Israeli hospital administration. The director of Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Zeev Rotstein, on Wednesday announced he had already purchased 1.5 million doses, despite the fact that the nation’s Health Ministry has yet to authorize its use. Rotstein dismissed skepticism of the Russian shot as a product of US-Russian competition and explained that “we don’t know enough yet but the data has so far been encouraging.” Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet on Thursday decided to push ahead with the third stage of its lockdown rollback plan. After reopening elementary schools and some business places, all street stores will be allowed to open starting next week, as the government determined the rate of infections and deaths was slowing at a satisfying pace.