In terms of vaccination strategy, Israel has long been considered a showcase country.
But now vaccine doses are said not to have been paid for, reports an Israeli newspaper.
Jerusalem - Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has stopped delivering the Biontech vaccine to Israel.
The reason for this is an outstanding invoice for 2.5 million cans.
This is reported by the Israeli newspaper
Jerusalem Post
.
High-ranking employees of the group expressed their concern in the newspaper that the Israeli interim government would not pay the outstanding sum.
The company did not want to be exploited and could not understand how an organized country could behave in this way.
The Israeli radio station
Army Radio
even reported that Pfizer is said to have called Israel a "banana republic".
Israel a "banana republic"?
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer criticizes the lack of payments
A delivery of 700,000 cans that should arrive in Israel on Sunday has been postponed until further notice.
Pfizer told the
Jerusalem Post
that the company completed all deliveries as originally agreed.
In a statement, the group wrote: "The company is currently working with the Israeli government to renew the agreement." Additional vaccine could be delivered to the country.
"While this continues, deliveries can be adjusted."
The Israeli health minister refused to take a position on the newspaper's request.
The first 10 million vaccine doses were paid for on time, according to the newspaper's report.
When the vaccine ran low in February, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an add-on agreement with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to provide the country with additional doses.
However, money should never have flowed for the agreed additional 2.5 million cans.
So far the country has spent about 2.6 billion shekels on vaccine, around 665 million euros.
The Knesset announced this in March.
It is believed that Israel paid significantly more per dose than any other country in the world.
(fmü)
The Frankfurter Rundschau * also reports on the incident.
*
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