A Military Intelligence Directorate report published Tuesday morning warns that by the end of December the average daily number of infected people is expected to rise above 2,500, the bar set by the government for applying “tightened restraint” restrictions, which include closing down commerce and the education systems in red and orange cities.
The Healthy Ministry’s updated snapshot for Tuesday morning shows 2,279 new verified cases, based on 72,423 test results obtained on Monday. Currently, there are 344 coronavirus patients in Israeli hospitals, 130 of whom are on respirators. 3,004 have died from the virus in Israel since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Health Ministry has instructed all hospital and HMO managers to get vaccinated against Corona on live television next week, to convey a positive message to the public about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
Also, this week the Health Ministry will hold webinars on the vaccines for family physicians and pediatricians, to help increase the rate of immunization of medical staff, with the assumption that this may increase the public’s positive response to the vaccines.
The ministry has also set up a steering committee that consults the vaccination campaign, which includes representatives from Facebook Israel and Google Israel, experts in behavioral economics, and spokespersons working for the healthcare system. The ministry will also operate a war room that will respond instantly to online fake news about the vaccines, and feature doctors who will respond to false allegations.
The Corona Czar, Prof. Nachman Ash, told 103FM that changing the public’s negative attitude about the vaccine is paramount to its success, and noted that “about 30% of the people don’t want to be vaccinated, or are afraid of the vaccine. Our success depends on the number of those being vaccinated.”
Israel’s biggest city, Jerusalem, is establishing large centers where all the HMOs will vaccinate their members in one place. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon has assembled a joint team of representatives of the HMOs, MDA, the police, and the municipality to manage the long-term operation.
People will be invited to these centers according to the Health Ministry’s priority list. In a city with close to one million residents, mapping the areas with the greatest need for the vaccine is vital to dispensing the vaccines quickly and with the biggest impact.
The Jerusalem municipality is preparing a list of all its residents who are 65 or older and will offer them transportation to the vaccination centers.