Speaking to Chinese press, Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba said that Israel would like to be the first country to reach “vaccination understandings” with China. The coronavirus is believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. A recent World Health Organization delegation to China claimed upon returning home that Chinese authorities had refused to share all raw data from the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
"This is one of the main things that I would like to push through with the Chinese government: to see if we can get a bilateral agreement on mutual understanding of vaccines," Ben-Abba was widely quoted in Chinese media as saying.
Israel has reached understandings with Greece and Cyprus and is said to be working on similar deals with the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The idea would be to allow vaccinated citizens of both the countries to travel freely between one another without requiring quarantine.
Israel has inoculated over five million people with their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, including four million who have received both doses. A week after the second dose, the Israeli Health Ministry issues vaccinated citizens a “green passport” which gives them access to inside seating at restaurants, gyms, theaters, hotels and more. People who have recovered from COVID-19 are also eligible for the green passport.