Israel has not set the example on reality: Covid-19 has not been eradicated, that is, the pandemic continues, and, not least, a kind of Covid-19 simulation can be carried out.
Yesterday, Israeli civil and military officials conducted an exercise to assess the country’s response capacity in the event that a new strain of the coronavirus appears. Those who participated in the kind of simulation had to face various scenarios, including: application of a curfew, massive detection and vaccination campaigns, and the closure of Ben Gurion International Airport.
There is no doubt that Israel is the first of many countries that will have to carry out these kinds of exercises to prevent what we saw in much of the world last year: disorganization, improvisation and chaos in hospitals.
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard has not taken his finger off the line since last year in particular, on the subject of vaccines.
Summoned by the Secretary of State of the United States Antony Blinken, last Wednesday Foreign Minister Ebrard participated, along with some 20 Foreign Ministers such as France’s Jean-Yves Le Drian, from India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the High Representative for Foreign Policy from the European Union, Josep Borrell, in a virtual event to review the challenges of Covid-19.
Advances in health security are no longer optional for the world, and only through multilateral mechanisms will we be able to efficiently combat attacks from viruses such as Covid-19.
Foreign Minister Ebrard has promoted in various multilateral forums the urgency of distributing the vaccine in countries with low and middle income levels. He recently did so at the G20 Summit in Rome.
This issue of equitable distribution of the vaccine is working in the European Union. One of the driving forces behind the consolidated purchase from Brussels has been Chancellor Angela Merkel. But we are talking about an organization with a medium and high income level. It is the UN that has tried to carry out the procurement and distribution in poor countries, but much remains to be done. This issue was addressed by Chancellor Ebrard.
This element cannot be achieved without ensuring sustainable financing, regional collaboration, and international political leadership.
Exercises like the one carried out by Israel yesterday project the responsibility that States have in the face of severe health crises like the one that all countries have been exposed to.
More than 5.7 million Israelis (about 80% of adults), of the more than nine million inhabitants, have already received two doses of the vaccine, and more than 4 million the third dose.
Prevention is the key.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx