IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v303y2022ics0277953622003288.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Infrastructural capital in the Israeli vaccination campaign against COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Tubi, Omri

Abstract

This article examines the Israeli vaccination campaign against COVID-19, focusing on the state's acquisition of the vaccines from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. In December 2020, Israel signed an agreement with Pfizer to purchase enough doses to vaccinate its entire population. In the months that followed, the country became a world leader in vaccination rates. But how was Israel able to purchase large quantities of then-scarce vaccines in the first place? To answer this question, I examine reports and publications by government and civil society bodies as well as news coverage about the campaign. Drawing on insights from the sociology of the state and from science and technology studies, I argue that Israel was able to secure vaccines by using its state-power as a form of currency. Theoretically, I suggest the term “infrastructural capital” – which I define as the resources a state can provide to an external capitalist actor by virtue of its power – to explain how Israel traded with Pfizer. In the conclusion, I discuss the potential implications of this case for other cases.

Suggested Citation

  • Tubi, Omri, 2022. "Infrastructural capital in the Israeli vaccination campaign against COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:303:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622003288
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622003288
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lavers, Tom, 2021. "Aiming for Universal Health Coverage through insurance in Ethiopia: State infrastructural power and the challenge of enrolment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:303:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622003288. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.