With the world’s leading vaccination in Israel declining due to the collapse of demand, the Ministry of Health and some private companies are looking for ways to encourage Israelis to get their vaccines.
The Ministry of Health is considering a plan to send medical staff to offices of major companies across the country to vaccinate employees, Channel 13 reported on Monday.
This is logistically problematic today because HMOs are responsible for vaccinating the Israelis and each employee has their own HMO association.
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However, a “control center” will be established at the Ministry of Health to discuss these issues and will be responsible for coordination with the various companies involved, the report said.
In addition, a meeting was held on Monday between the directors of Israel’s four HMOs and the Ministry of Health, where it was decided that a plan would be submitted for approval by the Ministry of Finance, which would allow HMOs to give members of the team to persuade patients to be vaccinated with a salary bonus.
Israel aims to distribute 200,000 vaccines a day, but although everyone aged 16 and over is now eligible for the vaccine, demand is reaching just half of that total.
In the meantime, some companies are resolving the matter on their own.
Shopping center company BIG has announced that it will not allow unvaccinated Israelis to enter its offices in Herzliya, according to Channel 12.
The almost empty Big Shopping Center in Ashdod, southern Israel, on February 7, 2021. (Yossi Aloni / Flash90)
The supermarket chain Shufersal says it will pay employees the hours needed to be vaccinated.
The mattress company Swiss System will give an NIS 500 bonus to all its employees who are vaccinated and even a day off, reported Canal 12. The “We like you” coffee chain will offer its employees an NIS bonus 300 for each vaccinated employee.
The municipality of Givatayim will offer a deduction from the municipal tax for each vaccinated family.
Pelephone, yes! and Bezeq International announced a collaboration with the charity “Latet” in which they will donate a hot meal to the needy for each of the 4,000 employees of the companies that are vaccinated.
Israelis receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a sports center transformed into a Clalit Health vaccination center in Hod Hasharon on February 2, 2021. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
While all Israelis aged 16 and over can be vaccinated, inoculation centers say few are showing up.
According to Channel 12, Israel’s healthcare providers have been ready for 200,000 vaccinations a day since last week. But demand has dropped 50 percent since a record 240,000 Israelis were vaccinated on January 12.
“We have no explanation as to why people don’t come. We send messages telling people to come and get vaccinated, but the response is still low, ”a health official from Clalit told the network.
According to the broadcaster, 119,000 injections are administered on Monday, 53,000 of which in the first dose.
Many have blamed a wave of online antivaxxer conspiracy theories, including that of a popular celebrity rabbi.
Moshe Tsarfati, waiting for a vaccine at a vaccination center in Jerusalem, told Channel 12: “The flood of online conspiracy theories against vaccination is just shocking. It is shocking and people are dying as a result. “
Israelis sit in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, which opened on Sunday, while Israel eases restrictions on a third blockade due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
On Sunday, Facebook announced that it had removed a large group promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines that, in recent weeks, urged its thousands of members to schedule vaccinations and cancel them at the last minute, forcing HMOs to launch unused doses.
Israel is still the world leader in vaccination rates per capita, having given the first injection to more than 3.5 million of its citizens and the second to 2.1 million.
According to OECD figures cited by Channel 12, Israel is also the world leader in infections, although it is the lowest in mortality (0.7%).
There are also worrying signs of medical professionals refusing to be vaccinated.
Less than two-thirds of employees at Hospital do Laniado Medical Center were vaccinated against coronavirus, according to Channel 12, which cited data from the Ministry of Health.
Netanya’s hospital saw 60 percent of its doctors and 60% of the nursing staff take the injections, he said.
At the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, only 73% of doctors and 72% of nurses were vaccinated.
Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, in the capital, on the other hand, led with 94% of doctors and 89% of nurses receiving vaccines.
Vaccines have been available to medical staff since late December, and those who have not been vaccinated have refused the vaccines on their own.