Israel to buy millions of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses

FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of the Pfizer logo in this illustration
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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel signed a deal to buy millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccinations from Pfizer through 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

The new vaccinations will be suitable to protect people against different variants of the coronavirus, Netanyahu said in a statement.

He said he hopes to sign a similar deal to purchase vaccines from Moderna.

"This means that very soon we will have more than enough vaccines, both for adults and children," he said.

With about 81% of citizens or residents over 16 - the age group eligible for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Israel - having received both doses, infections and hospitalisations are down sharply.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Grant McCool)

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