Israel receives 1st shipment of Pfizer anti-Covid drug

Tel Aviv, Dec 31 (IANS) First shipment of the Pfizer Covid-19 drug has arrived in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Bennett posted photos of the cargo airplane unpacking the drug Paxlovid at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The drugs have arrived in Israel quickly and will assist us in getting past the peak of the coming Omicron wave," Bennett said in a statement.

US health regulators authorized on Wednesday the Paxlovid to treat early Covid-19 infections.

Under the deal between Israel and Pfizer, the US-based drug company will supply Israel with about 100,000 pills.

Israel has witnessed a recent surge of Covid-19 cases mainly caused by the outbreak of the Omicron variant.