Oded Balilty/AP Photo
- Pfizer’s CEO reportedly postponed a trip to Israel because his entourage wasn’t fully vaccinated.
- The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel said members of the CEO’s team had received a first dose.
- CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC previously he wouldn’t “cut the line” for the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and his entourage postponed a trip to Israel because they’re not yet fully vaccinated against COVID-19, local reports said.
On Friday, The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel reported that local TV news station Channel 12 News said the chief executive’s planned Israel trip was pushed back because Bourla wasn’t yet fully vaccinated.
The reports said Bourla and some members of the team had received their first COVID-19 vaccine shots, but not their second dose. Insider has reached out to Pfizer for comment.
Back in December, Bourla told CNBC he wouldn’t “cut the line” to get his company’s coronavirus vaccine, developed in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech.
“I’m 59 years old, in good health, I’m not working on the frontline, so my type it is not recommended to get vaccination now,” he said at the time.
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A Pfizer spokesperson reportedly told Channel 12: "We continue to be interested in visiting Israel and meeting with decision-makers, health officials and professionals that are taking part in the successful vaccine drive in Israel."
The visit may be rescheduled for later this spring, according to The Jerusalem Post.
More than 3.6 million people in Israel have been fully vaccinated, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
About 41.1% of Israel's population have been fully vaccinated, putting Israel far ahead of most other countries. In the US, for example, about 8.8% of people have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins.
Last month, two Israel studies showed that Pfizer's vaccine reduced transmission in real-world situations, Reuters reported.
Bourla's trip to Israel was scheduled to begin on March 8, about two weeks before an upcoming election, according to The Times of Israel. At least one local watchdog group had urged government officials to push the trip back, saying that it could have benefited the re-election campaign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the outlet reported.