Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday morning issued a special appeal to young people in Israel asking them to go get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Dear young people,” the PM said, “The vaccine will both protect your health and prevent you from missing all the fun of the summer vacation.”
“Look,” Bennett continued, “the new Delta variant of the coronavirus is running amok around the world. It is very contagious and it hurts unvaccinated people, meaning you, young people. At the moment, there are enough vaccines for everyone. But there’s a catch. They are due to expire soon and then we won’t have enough vaccines on hand for everybody.”
“There’s a short, 11-day window, and we are in a race against time,” the PM urged young Israelis. “The last date on which it would be possible to get vaccinated with the first dose is July 9; three weeks later you will receive the second dose and then the vaccines we have in stock will reach their expiration date. I, therefore, call on parents and on young people who can get vaccinated – go get vaccinated, while you still can.”
“I know how much you want to enjoy the summer, and you will be able to,” Bennett assured his future voters, adding, “I also have four children your age and they also want to enjoy the summer. We don’t want to impose any restrictions on anyone, not on parties or hikes, we don’t want to bring back the capsules. But for this to happen you need to talk with your parents and go get vaccinated so we’ll have a wonderful summer without lockdowns or restrictions. I’m counting on you.”
Religious Zionism chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich on Monday added his voice to his former political ally’s appeal and called on parents to get their children vaccinated.
“While children do not usually develop severe symptoms at present, we don’t know what the future consequences of the coronavirus will be for those who became infected, and those may be disastrous,” Smotrich explained. “So run and vaccinate the children as much as possible (currently from the age of 12) and do not pay attention to the nonsense of vaccine opponents. Until then, keep your children from getting infected. Convince them to put on facemasks and maintain social distance and hygiene. This is their future, and it’s in your hands,” Smotrich concluded.