Social media users claim a video shows an Israeli supermarket checking the vaccination status of customers before they are allowed to enter. Although the video is authentic, it shows the entrance to a mall, not a supermarket, and was filmed before Israel reopened malls to everyone. Supermarkets remained open throughout the pandemic, without checking vaccination status.
Posts that share the track can be seen (here) (here) (here) (here).
“The supermarket in Israel investigating the vaccination status No fax no food”, are subtitles of the video (here).
On February 11, the same footage was uploaded by Kan News on Twitter (here). According to the news agency, the video shows how a security guard checks the vaccination certificates of customers in the Ofer Grand Mall in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva.
On that date, Reuters reported (here) that three Israeli shopping malls had reopened in defiance of the government’s COVID-19 rules.
The malls, one of which was the Ofer Grand Mall in Petah Tikva, allowed those who received the coronavirus vaccine to enter.
“The government has decided to stop us from opening the police and sending police inspectors here to prevent the opening,” Moshe Rosenblum, chief executive of Ofer Shopping Centers, told Reuters at the time.
Footage filmed by Reuters in the mall shows inspectors issuing warrants and instructing them to close.
But the rules have changed in the meantime, and Israeli shopping centers are currently open to everyone, including those who have not yet been vaccinated (here).
Israelis in possession of the so-called “Green Pass” – a certificate of alleged COVID-19 immunity, displayed on an Israeli Ministry of Health – have access to recreational facilities such as gyms and hotels.
VERDICT
Missing context. The video shows a mall that was opened in violation of the then government rules for coronavirus, which checks the vaccination certificates of customers. Supermarkets in Israel are open to everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.