UK Pandemic Decision Making through access to Israeli Vaccine Roll-Out and Data
Stage in GSE Lifecyle
Primary stage : Horizon Scan
In December 2020 Israel started vaccinating its population with the much anticipated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, quickly becoming the country with the fastest inoculation coverage globally. This early mover status resulted in Israel being at the forefront of knowledge from the vaccine roll-out. This included both operational knowledge (for example the design of vaccine centres, incentivising vaccine uptake and vaccine certification development), and also scientific knowledge (i.e. emerging data on vaccine efficacy, safety, waning and childhood vaccination). Access to this data offered important insights for UK government decision making and pandemic management and has resulted in many months of ongoing communication.
The Science and Innovation (SIN) team lead on health and Covid at the British Embassy in Israel. Our task was to very quickly gain access to the most relevant people in the Israeli Ministry of Health, the Health Management Organisations (community medical care) who lead the roll-out and leading scientists publishing data, to digest the information collected to gain most useful insights for UK needs.
By identifying critical issues and building relationships (quickly) with the key scientific and government persona in Israel we were able to report in a timely and informative manner to inform decision making. Our team kept track of scientific publications including pre-prints, summarising data and generating evidence to inform decision making in this public health crisis. Finally, at key moments we organised meetings between the most relevant interlocutors to inform emerging questions.
Today the UK and Israel considered global leaders in covid-19 vaccine management. Regular conversations are held between the two countries where information is shared as it emerges, supporting the global response to the pandemic, and consulting from both sides on national points of interest. These conversations have included the highest levels in HMG such as Government Chief Scientific Advisor, UK Chief, and Deputy Chief Medical Officers, and Chief Executive of UK Health Security Agency, and our reporting has reached the Prime Minister’s weekend box. The speed and timing of these actions have supported the UK in decision making on vaccine roll-out and development of vaccine certification technology.
An image of a microbiologist using an electronic pipette to extract a virus from a vial.
Team
UK Science & Innovation Network (SIN) - Israel
Department(s)
UK Science & Innovation Network (SIN) - Israel
Contact Details
Email : ScienceandInnovation.NetworkGlobalInbox@fco.gov.uk
Description
The Science and Innovation Network (SIN) has approximately 100 officers in over 40 countries and territories around the world building partnerships and collaborations on science and innovation. SIN officers work with the local science and innovation community in support of UK policy overseas, leading to mutual benefits to the UK and the host country.