Israel to stop receiving Pfizer vaccines for defaulting on payments 

Israel is to stop receiving batches of vaccines it was scheduled to receive due to the Israeli government's lack of commitment after failing to pay for doses received earlier. According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Israel was scheduled to receive a shipment of "700,000 thousand Pfizer vaccines" during the week, but due to non-payment the shipment has been stopped "until further notice".

Israel's Army Radio released the exclusive report, claiming that the US pharmaceutical company feels "cheated" by the Israeli government's failure to pay. In January alone, Israel received another shipment of 700,000 vaccines, increasing the rate of vaccinations to 170,000 people a day. 

Later that month, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had agreed with the head of Pfizer to "receive a steady flow of shipments to complete the vaccination of the entire adult population by March". He added that "more than 72% of those over the age of 60 have already been vaccinated".

Alongside this, the report mentioned that some progress has been made within the government to manage this crisis as, as planned, the country was preparing to start vaccinating 12-year-olds. This policy will now depend on what the US Food and Drug Administration's Food and Drug Administration considers. 

In this regard, Israel has vaccinated 55% of the population with at least one dose in less than 3 months, reaching the figure of 4.8 million Israelis vaccinated out of a total population of 9 million. As a result, Israel has ensured that a significant part of the population is now protected against COVID and has registered a clear decrease in mortality rates, with the official death toll so far in the pandemic standing at 6,243 people.

According to agreements reached between Pfizer and the Israeli government, Israel expected to receive more than 10 million doses of the vaccine by the end of March. However, this strategy had been agreed in the context of Israel following the payment process correctly and on time. With the government's non-payment, new arrivals of Pfizer vaccine batches have been stalled, slowing down the country's vaccination process and the inoculation race.