I live in Israel. I got the vaccine by walking in and getting a spare at the end of the day, as mentioned in the article.
The writer makes some valid points, but IMO the success is down to something less tangible. It's hard to define but there is a buzz in the air about it, and a strong sense of everyone pulling together to do what it takes. So many things need to work together well for an operation like this, that I don't think you can put it down to any one thing. But if you can get the sense of "drive" going, things slot into place.
We don't trust our politicians much about anything, but we sense that even they have pulled out all the stops to make this happen. The actual process was like clockwork - the paperwork took 30 seconds - swipe HMO card and 5 questions, get the shot, wait 15 minutes and leave. No waiting.
Yes, there's an election on the way which undoubtedly plays a part, but isn't that how democracy is meant to work - they do the best for us so we vote for them? Yes, they paid Pfizer more than most other countries, but since the total cost of the vaccines equates to around 2 days of lockdown, that sounds like a good investment.
For example, New Jersey has 9 million people. Denmark 5 million. Why have other countries or states not achieved the same thing if size is the main driver?
This makes it sound like there are a bunch of vaccine doses waiting on the sidelines? Is this the case? I would hope they are being administered as fast as they can be produced at this point.
1. It shows numbers for distributed, not received.
2. It takes some time to schedule appointments, since vaccine supplies are still limited, so there is a lag between receiving vaccine and administering doses.
3. it takes time to deliver vaccines to more distributed areas. State I live in has ~3 times less people than Israel but is ~6 times bigger.
I don't want to diminish the dramatically better achievement when compared to anyone else but as far as statistics go they look better when you reduce the elegibility pool:
Readit News
The writer makes some valid points, but IMO the success is down to something less tangible. It's hard to define but there is a buzz in the air about it, and a strong sense of everyone pulling together to do what it takes. So many things need to work together well for an operation like this, that I don't think you can put it down to any one thing. But if you can get the sense of "drive" going, things slot into place.
We don't trust our politicians much about anything, but we sense that even they have pulled out all the stops to make this happen. The actual process was like clockwork - the paperwork took 30 seconds - swipe HMO card and 5 questions, get the shot, wait 15 minutes and leave. No waiting.
Yes, there's an election on the way which undoubtedly plays a part, but isn't that how democracy is meant to work - they do the best for us so we vote for them? Yes, they paid Pfizer more than most other countries, but since the total cost of the vaccines equates to around 2 days of lockdown, that sounds like a good investment.
Deleted Comment
I think it's true.
Denmark only has compulsory conscription for men, and at a shorter period.
A self sufficient population I think helps. I think being militarized also helps.
For example, New Jersey has 9 million people. Denmark 5 million. Why have other countries or states not achieved the same thing if size is the main driver?
See for example (scroll down and table shows % of doses used by state) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine...
1. It shows numbers for distributed, not received. 2. It takes some time to schedule appointments, since vaccine supplies are still limited, so there is a lag between receiving vaccine and administering doses. 3. it takes time to deliver vaccines to more distributed areas. State I live in has ~3 times less people than Israel but is ~6 times bigger.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/01/12/israel-pales...