Pfizer's Bourla defends testing COVID-19 vaccine in Israel at 'Post' conference

• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Author: MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

In a video message shared at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference, he shared that Israel "has a special place in my heart."

"It not only represents the fulfillment of a dream, but a safe harbor that we feel can protect us and our children from things that happened in the past."

Bourla is a Jewish man from Thessaloniki, Greece, and the son of Holocaust survivors.

Watch the Jerusalem Post 10th Annual Conference video

However, Bourla stressed, his decision to sell enough vaccines to Israel to inoculate anyone who has wanted to get the jab as many as three times was "a heavily considered decision."

"And given the results," he added, "I am happy to say, a very wise one."

Bourla said he had been looking for one country to demonstrate what the vaccine could do.

"Simply put, Israel had all the right conditions: Israel's Ministry of Health is one of the best in the world, as is Israel's healthcare system," he said. "The small population of Israel made the study manageable. Israel has a high degree of electronic data [and a] monitoring system connected to an overwhelming majority of the population.

"And finally, and very important, no country has more experience in managing crises."

He said that both Israel and Pfizer were prepared for the challenge and called the results of their collaboration "phenomenal."

So far, nearly 6.2 million Israelis have received at least one shot of the Pfizer vaccine. In total...