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With Israel’s leading immunization campaign slowing down due to collapsing demand, the health ministry and some private companies are looking for ways to get Israelis to go for the vaccine.
The health ministry is reportedly considering sending medical staff to the offices of major companies across the country to vaccinate employees, Channel 13 reported on Monday.
Currently, this is logistically problematic as HMOs are responsible for vaccinating Israelis and each employee has their own HMO member.
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Nonetheless, a “control center” will be established within the health ministry to discuss these issues and will be responsible for coordinating 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 presented for the approval of the Ministry of Finance, which would allow HMOs to give to staff members who persuade patients to get vaccinated. a salary bonus.
Israel aims to distribute 200,000 injections per day, but although all people aged 16 and over are now eligible for the vaccine, demand is barely half of that total.
Meanwhile, some companies are taking the problem into their own hands.
Shopping center company BIG has announced that it will not allow unvaccinated Israelis into its offices in Herzliya, according to Channel 12.
The large, nearly empty shopping center in Ashdod, southern Israel, February 7, 2021. (Yossi Aloni / Flash90)
The Shufersal grocery chain says it will pay staff members for the hours needed to get vaccinated.
The mattress company Swiss System will offer a bonus of 500 NIS to all its employees who get vaccinated and even on a day off, Channel 12 reported. The chain of cafes “We love you too” will offer its employees a bonus of 300 NIS for each employee vaccinated.
The commune of Givatayim will offer a municipal tax deduction for each vaccinated family.
Pelephone, yes! and Bezeq International have announced a collaboration with the charity “Latet” in which they will donate a hot meal to those in need for each of the 4,000 company employees who get vaccinated.
Israelis receive COVID-19 vaccine at gym converted to Clalit Health vaccination center in Hod Hasharon on February 2, 2021 (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
Although all Israelis aged 16 and over are eligible for the vaccine, vaccination centers say few show up.
According to Channel 12, Israeli health care providers had been ready for 200,000 vaccinations per day since last week. But demand has dropped by 50% since a record 240,000 Israelis were vaccinated on January 12.
“We have no explanation as to why people don’t come. We are sending messages asking people to come and get vaccinated, but the response remains low, ”a Clalit health official told the network.
According to the station, 119,000 injections are administered on Monday, including 53,000 for the first dose.
Many have blamed an eruption of anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories online, including one famous rabbi.
Moshe Tsarfati, waiting at a vaccination center in Jerusalem for a vaccine, told Channel 12: “It just shocks the flood of online vaccine conspiracy theories. It’s shocking and people are dying as a result.
Israelis are sitting in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, which opened on Sunday, as Israel eases restrictions on a third lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
On Sunday, Facebook announced that it had removed a large group promoting conspiracy theories of COVID-19 vaccines that in recent weeks had urged its thousands of members to schedule vaccination appointments and then cancel them at at the last minute, forcing HMOs to throw in unused doses.
Israel continues to lead the world in per capita vaccination rates, having given the first blow 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 that medical staff are refusing to be vaccinated.
Less than two-thirds of hospital staff at Laniado Medical Center have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Channel 12, which cited figures from the Ministry of Health.
Netanya hospital has seen 60% of its doctors and 60% of nurses get vaccinated, he said.
At Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, only 73% of doctors and 72% of nurses have been vaccinated.
The capital’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, on the other hand, led with 94% of doctors and 89% of nurses receiving the vaccines.
Vaccines have been available to medical staff since late December, and those who are not vaccinated have refused the vaccines on their own.
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