Successful strategy: the Israeli key to convincing through vaccination

MONTEVIDEO.- The Israelis took off their masks a week ago. These fabrics with elastics which have been the most representative image of the Covid-19 pandemic, has ceased to be of compulsory use on the streets of the country which carries out the vaccination against the new coronavirus. According to official figures, more than five in ten Israelis (54.56%) are fully immunized (have received both doses and the two week window has passed). These data correspond to the total population, but only people over 16 are eligible for vaccination. This implies that a third of the population is excluded.

But Israel, which has experienced three waves of coronavirus and three mandatory quarantines, has not escaped the suspicion that part of the population has new vaccines. Amit Gutkind, head of the Covid-19 vaccination program at the main Israeli hospital, said the key to citizen persuasion was to “Rely on the leaders” of the district and religious who arrive in their communities.

“This is what made the new infections change very immediately and allowed us to reach the current situation”, including a few days without counting new deaths from the infection.

Gutkind heads an Israeli delegation that arrived in Uruguay yesterday to disseminate experiences and collaborate on the strategy to fight Covid-19. Although the doctor clarified that his visit does not consist of an examination or an audit of the Uruguayan situation, he understands that certain aspects observed in their first steps by the ITCs lead to the conclusion that Uruguay “is on the right track”.

The Israeli delegation, which will carry out medical visits to patients in Covid-19 centers, works in one of the ten most prestigious hospitals in the world: Shiba-Tel Hashomer. It is this same health center that leads the vaccination of some 200,000 Palestinians who work daily inside Israel’s borders.

In ese sentido, Gutkind destacó la relevancia de esa estrategia, la que indicó que sería deseable para contextos fronterizos como Uruguay y Brasil, porque “no solo da protección a la persona vacunada, sino que colabora en la immunización de la población en su zona de Origin”.

El País / GDA newspaper

The country (Uruguay)