As the world’s leading vaccination campaign slows down due to the collapse of demand, the Ministry of Health and some private companies are looking at ways to encourage Israelis to take their shots.
The Ministry of Health is apparently considering a plan to send medical staff to offices of large companies across the country to vaccinate employees, Channel 13 reported on Monday.
Currently, this is logistically problematic because the HMOs are responsible for vaccinating Israelis and each employee has their own HMO membership.
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Nevertheless, a “control center” will be set up in the Ministry of Health to discuss these issues and it will be responsible for coordinating with the various businesses involved, the report said.
A meeting was also 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 presented for the approval of the Ministry of Finance, which would enable HMOs to give staff members. which persuades patients to be vaccinated. a salary bonus.
Israel plans to hand out 200,000 shots a day, but although everyone 16 years and older is eligible for the vaccine, demand is barely half the total.
Meanwhile, some companies are taking matters into their own hands.
The firm BIG Shopping Center has announced, according to Channel 12, that it will not allow vaccinated Israelis to its offices in Herzliya.
The almost empty Big Shopping Center in Ashdod, Southern Israel, on February 7, 2021. (Yossi Aloni / Flash90)
According to the Shufersal grocery store chain, staff will pay the hours to be vaccinated.
The Swiss System mattress company will give a bonus of 500 NIS to all its employees who are vaccinated and even a day off, Channel 12 reported. The coffee chain ‘We also like you’ offers its employees a bonus of 300 NIS for each vaccinated employee.
The municipality in Givatayim offers a municipal tax deduction for each family that is vaccinated.
Phone, Yes! and Bezeq International announced a partnership with the charity “Latet” in which they will donate a hot meal to the needy for each of the 4,000 employees of the vaccinated enterprises.
Israelis receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a sports hall converted into a Clalit Health vaccination center in Hod Hasharon, on February 2, 2021. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
Although all Israelis aged 16 and over are eligible to be vaccinated, the vaccination centers say there are few turnouts.
According to Channel 12, Israel’s healthcare providers have been ready for 200,000 vaccinations a day since last week. But demand has fallen by 50 percent since a record 240,000 Israelis were vaccinated on January 12.
“We have no explanation for why people do not come. We send messages to get people vaccinated, but the response is still low, ‘a Clalit health official told the network.
According to the station, 119,000 shots are fired on Monday, of which 53,000 are the first dose.
Many have blamed a result of conspiracy theories against the waxxer online, including a popular celebrity rabbi.
Moshe Tsarfati, who was waiting for a vaccine at a vaccination center in Jerusalem, told Channel 12: ‘It’s just a shock of the flood of conspiracy theories against vaccination online. It’s shocking and people die because of it. ”
Israelis are sitting on Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, which opened on Sunday as Israel eases restrictions on a third closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
On Sunday, Facebook announced that it had removed a large group promoting conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines, urging thousands of members over the past few weeks to plan appointments to vaccinate it and cancel it in the blink of an eye, which had to force HMOs to throw out unused doses.
Israel continues to lead the world in per capita vaccination rates, having given the first chance to more than 3.5 million of its citizens and the second to 2.1 million.
According to OECD figures quoted by Channel 12, Israel also leads the world in infections, although it is the lowest for deaths (0.7%).
There were also worrying signs that medical workers did not want to be vaccinated.
According to Channel 12, which quoted figures from the Ministry of Health, less than two-thirds of hospital staff at Laniado Medical Center were vaccinated against the coronavirus.
According to Netanya Hospital, 60 percent of its doctors and 60% of the nursing staff received the shots.
At the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, only 73% of doctors and 72% of nurses were vaccinated.
The Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in the capital, on the other hand, led with 94% of the doctors and 89% of the nurses receiving the vaccines.
The vaccines have been available to medical staff since the end of December, and those who are not vaccinated have turned down the shots on their own.