How Has Israel Vaccinated So Many People So Quickly?

It’s a question I’ve been asked by friends all over the world: how has Israel vaccinated so many people so quickly?

As of this week, over 2.5 million people there have now received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines—a quarter of the population—and over 42 percent of the population have received their first shot. In the UK, meanwhile, which is technically ranked as the third leading nation in the vaccine rollout, 15 million people have received a single dose (about 20 percent of the population) while just roughly 530,000 have received their second one. In the United States, just 4.2 percent of the population have received both doses of the vaccine.

So suddenly Israel finds itself to be the envy of the world and the object of puzzled praise from mainstream media and social media alike. Even petty attacks highlighting Palestinians’ lack of access to the vaccine access—not Israel’s fault—have not taken off.