Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Nes Ziona, where researchers are trying to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
“For years, we have been prepared to defend the State of Israel against existential or very major threats,” he says. “Now there are two possibilities, either we find a vaccine, or we do not find a vaccine – at least not in the coming years. If you find a vaccine you will have brought to the people of Israel, who have shown great resilience, an amazing thing, but you will have brought this for humanity as well. I think that there is no more important mission than that which you are involved in at the moment.
“In the absence of a vaccine, we will need to find other solutions to enable routine life that allows for a reasonable economy. A reasonable economy is one that grows by at least two percent. Otherwise, we will be in continual regression,” Netanyahu adds.
“I would focus on the major efforts to find a vaccine, but at the same time I would also promote other things that enable us to move forward on testing, rapid testing and identifying antibody carriers to reach a situation in which we can allow the population of Israel, apparently the entire population, to function in the absence of a vaccine.”
(L-R) Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Nes Ziona on June 7, 2020. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 7, 2020
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