Israel has spent about 785 million dollars on Covid-19 vaccines, a Finance Ministry official told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
The country bought 15 million doses in total, according to ynet news site, though a Health Ministry spokesperson refused to confirm the figure, citing confidentiality agreements.
Officials spent some 2.6 billion shekels on buying vaccines from several manufacturers, the parliamentary committee heard. Israel has used the Pfizer/BioNTech jab almost exclusively so far.
The price works out at some 52 dollars per dose on average, far more than the sum many European countries paid.
Belgian budget state secretary Eva De Bleeker accidentally published some vaccine prices on Twitter, stating a dose of Moderna’s vaccine cost some 15 euros (17 dollars), while Pfizer/BioNTech’s cost 12 euros. She later deleted the tweet.
An Israeli Health Ministry representative said another 2.5 billion shekels would be spent on additional vaccine doses.
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Israel, with a population of around 9 million, began its vaccination campaign on December 19. It has been one of the most successful in the world.
The number of people who have become seriously ill has fallen significantly in recent weeks, as has the number of new cases.
More than 5.2 million people in Israel have received their first jab so far, and 4.3 million have received their second dose.
That means some 56 per cent of the population have had their first vaccination, and 46 per cent have received the second dose, the Health Ministry said.
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