The Sheba Medical Center nurse who was set to give Israel’s first shot of the coronavirus vaccine to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night says that it was administered in contradiction to hospital protocols.
Shoshi Gomel, who was switched at the last minute by Netanyahu‘s personal physician Tzvi Berkovitz, tells Channel 12 news that she was “excited to be chosen help bring Israel into a new era without the coronavirus,” but had the syringe taken from her hands after she had filled it with the vaccine.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a coronavirus vaccine, from his personal physician Dr. Tzvi Berkovitz, at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, on December 19, 2020, becoming the first Israeli to get the vaccine (AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP)
“Even though [Dr. Berkovitz] stood next to me and saw the dose, it is against the protocol of our hospital,” Gomel says, explaining that the person who fills the syringe must administer the vaccine.
“Maybe [Netanyahu] trusted him more…; he has received other vaccines from him in the past,” she muses. She also speculates that the Shin Bet security agency may have required that the prime minister’s own doctor administer the vaccine.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) smiles before receiving a coronavirus vaccine, from his personal physician Dr. Tzvi Berkovitz, at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan on December 19, 2020. At center in background (in blue scrubs) is nurse Shoshi Gomel (Amir Cohen/Pool/AFP)
Gomel stresses that she was not insulted to be replaced by Netanyahu’s personal physician. “He took the pressure off me,” she says.
In the event, the vaccination process proved quite protracted, with the vaccine vial requiring lengthy shaking. Berkovitz then moved to vaccinate Netanyahu in his left arm, whereas the prime minister had been sitting for long minutes with his right arm bared. Netanyahu, who is left-handed, redirected his physician and was indeed vaccinated in his right arm.
“One small injection for a man, one giant leap for the health of us all,” Netanyahu proclaimed, referencing US astronaut Neil Armstrong’s resonant words when first setting foot on the moon in 1969.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 20, 2020
