One of Israel’s leading hospitals has placed an order for more than 1.5 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine produced in Russia despite concerns about its safety, Haaretz reports.
The director-general of Hadassah Medical Center in Jersusalem, Zeev Rotstein, told the news outlet that the hospital has provided the country’s Health Ministry with all the necessary materials regarding the vaccine following multiple disagreements with the agency over concerns about the vaccine, which he says are unfounded and based on tensions between Russia and the United States, not science.
“It’s like the space race,” he said, referring to the drive to create a coronavirus vaccine. “It’s no wonder the Russians called the vaccine Sputnik 5. They wanted to remind the Americans who reached space first.”
Rotstein notes that the Russian vaccine has been in phase three clinical trials for about three months, “and the results and safety we’ve seen have been very good,” though he does admit that the results aren’t final until the trials conclude.
“There’s a good probability that the vaccine is safe,” he said. “And there’s a reasonable probability ... that it’s also effective.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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