ByHANNAH BROWN

Vaxxed Nation, a documentary about the Israeli vaccine rollout produced by Ananey Studios, a leading Israel-based production company, for the Smithsonian Channel, will be broadcast on that channel in the US and the UK on July 11 at 10 p.m. 

The documentary looks at how Israel became a world leader at vaccinating its population and created a model for a massive and rapid rollout that other countries have used as a blueprint. It examines how Israel pulled it off and key players talk about the challenges of overcoming the reluctance among some segments of the population, including parts of the ultra-Orthodox community, to get vaccinated.

Vaxxed Nation documents the dramatic first year of the coronavirus pandemic and details how Israel enacted multiple lockdowns and put in place regulations to try to curb the outbreak, which now have been rolled back following the sharp decline in infection rates after a major portion of the country received the vaccine. The issues are examined through interviews with religious and secular Israelis and both Jews and Arabs, including healthcare workers, rabbis, business owners and government officials.

Yael Lavie served as showrunner and co-executive producer with Alicia Green and Tim Evans working as executive producers for the Smithsonian Channel. Orly Atlas Katz, CEO of Ananey communications and Executive Vice President of ViacomCBS ISRAEL; and Osnat Saraga, VP of development and production for Ananey, were executive producers for Ananey Studios and the documentary was directed by Danny Tene.

The Smithsonian Channel is a ViacomCBS Inc. brand, featuring programs about topics such as air and space, travel, history, science, nature and pop culture that have won dozens of awards, including Emmys.

Ananey Studios is an international studio that serves as the production arm of Ananey – a ViacomCBS Company, and is a leading Israeli media group that owns a variety of content brands and 12 television channels. Ananey’s award-winning studio produces content in a broad spectrum of genres including documentaries, dramas, animated shows and teen and young-adult shows.