Israel nears deal for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

TEL AVIV: Israel has reached an understanding with AstraZeneca to receive about 10 million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, a joint statement from the Israeli government and the drugmaker said on Friday. Details of the agreement were being finalised, the statement said, without giving an expected signing date. An initial supply is expected to arrive in Israel in the first half of 2021, subject to approval by regulatory authorities in Europe, the United States and Israel, the statement said. The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and its partner Oxford University is likely to be a two-dose course of treatment, meaning that 10 million doses would cover more than half of Israel’s population of 9 million.