DisrupTALK

As Israeli society is emerging from this unprecedented year in a daze, normal life is roaring back. In this episode, we take to the streets and marketplaces, we visit synagogues churches and mosques, music concerts and literary festivals, the Kotel (the Western Wall), and the beach to hear what going back to normal actually sounds like. 

Israel's flash vaccination drive stunned the drug companies and the world. When Israel transitioned from defense to offense it was a dramatic shift. The heroes of this story are the logistics people who scrambled to find freezers, nurses who pulled people off the street just so doses wouldn't go to waste, policymakers who were quick to reach decisions, and local bakeries who gave away kugel to motivate people to get the shot. Good planning that met an even better execution. Tal Zaks, Moderna's Israeli-born Chief Medical Officer explains why the vaccine's significance may prove to be much more than just a cure for Covid 19.

The first episode in our three-part series tells the story of Israel's initial reaction to the pandemic, which was characterized by good intentions and unprecedented collaborations, but also a logistical balagan (chaos).With a complete disregard for hierarchy and protocols, high-tech entrepreneurs started collaborating with academics, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence and engineering officers sat down with doctors, the Mossad was deployed to put its hand on medical equipment, and pilot projects were fast-tracked. This unique combination of an innovative entrepreneurial society and culture with a governmental health coverage system that is wired for cross-sector collaboration is what gave Israel its edge. But it was also clear that it was all just a stalling tactic.  A means to hold down the fort until a decisive surprise attack could be deployed.