Israeli scientists to have coronavirus vaccine in ‘weeks’

FPI / February 28, 2020

Israeli scientists will have the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus in a matter of weeks, Israeli Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis said.

The vaccine being developed by the MIGAL biotech group could be ready in just three weeks, the Jerusalem Post reported on Feb. 27.

“Congratulations to MIGAL on this exciting breakthrough. I am confident that there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat,” Akunis said.

MIGAL CEO David Zigdon said the vaccine could “achieve safety approval in 90 days. Given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development.”

It will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the general public, Zigdon said.

“We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite completion of final-product development and regulatory activities,” Zigdon said.

Akunis said he has instructed his ministry’s director-general to fast-track all approval processes with the goal of bringing the vaccine to market as quickly as possible.

David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), lauded the Israeli researchers.

Harris tweeted: “Once again, #Israel is helping advance the frontiers of human knowledge & make the world a better place. #BDS supporters, will you boycott any new Israeli anti-coronavirus medicines?”

Harris was referencing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), an international campaign to boycott Israel over its alleged harsh treatment of Palestinians.

BDS has many supporters in the United States, including Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Israel’s progress toward a vaccine has gone mostly unreported by the corporate media in the U.S. Some analysts say that is because the major media, and their allies in the Democratic Party, are rooting for the coronavirus to become widespread so they can use it as part of their strategy to attack President Donald Trump.

The New York Times on Feb. 26 ran an op-ed by Gail Collins titled “Let's Call It Trumpvirus,” in which Collins declared that “if you’re feeling awful, you know who to blame.”

Fox News host Pete Hegseth, appearing on Fox & Friends on Feb. 28, said Collins’ piece is “the absolute height of irresponsibility, but it's also the natural place where we knew Democrats would go. … Watch the Democrats, watch the media — you start to feel like they're rooting for coronavirus to spread. And I don't say that flippantly, I really don't, but they're rooting for it to grow, they're rooting for the problem to get worse, they're rooting for mysteries, unknown cases, quarantines, towns, for it to become an absolute national crisis for one reason and one reason alone. … Even though it is not the fault of Donald Trump, they will try it to pin it to him like his Katrina moment and make it political. And so a headline like this lays bare their intentions, because we know it already, they just won't say it.”

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade then added: “By the way, I'd just like to say this, Tom Steyer just emailed this out, and the headline is, ‘Coronavirus could be Trump's Katrina’, called it a total failure, his response to it so far. With no deaths and 60 cases.”

Hegseth added: “They're cheering — I can't believe I'm on national television saying that Democrats are cheering for a virus because they hate Donald Trump so much. And that's what it is. That's precisely what it is. If they were focused on a solution, they would be working with him, they would be saying, let's put all the politics aside and identify what the issue is and make sure we keep Americans safe. Instead, they are capitalizing on it, you're going to see it in the Democrat primary even more. You're seeing it from candidates, you're seeing it from The New York Times. It's a shame.”

Free Press International