Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a fresh appeal on Thursday for all Israelis to get the coronavirus vaccine, accusing those eligible to get vaccinated who have not done so of endangering the rest of the country.
In a primetime television address from Tel Aviv, Bennett said the government’s aim is to allow Israelis to go about their lives unimpeded and not to reimpose COVID-19 lockdown measures.
“We want to have an open and safe country. We are managing this campaign responsibly… and on the basis of facts and data,” Bennett said.
Asserting vaccines alone were insufficient to cope with the more contagious Delta variant, which has been largely blamed for the resurgence of infections in Israel, Bennett urged all Israelis older than 12 to get immunized.
“Every citizen over age 12 who doesn’t have a medical reason not to must go get vaccinated,” he said.
“One million Israelis are refusing to get vaccinated,” Bennett continued. “They are endangering the entire population, they are endangering the other 8 million citizens in the country.”
He warned that the vaccine holdouts could cause the government to impose a fourth national lockdown since the pandemic began.
In his remarks, Bennett noted the high-level coronavirus cabinet’s decisionon Thursday to start requiring the unvaccinated to pay out of pocket for COVID tests, linking it to the government’s push to increase immunization rates.
“There is no reason that taxpayers and those who fulfill their civic duty to get vaccinated will fund tests for those who refuse to get vaccinated,” he said.
Bennett also noted that those who are vaccinated are subject to less stringent quarantine requirements when they enter the country.
Earlier Thursday, the coronavirus cabinet approved reinstating the “Green Pass,” limiting attendance at large events to those who are vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19, or who present a valid negative test result.
The renewed restriction will take effect July 29, pending government approval.
Ministers also voted add the United Kingdom, Georgia, Cyprus and Turkey to a list of countries Israelis are barred from traveling to over COVID fears. The latter two are among the most popular destinations for Israeli tourists.
Those who refuse to get vaccinated “are undermining the efforts of all of us,” Bennett announced on Thursday, as the number of new coronavirus cases in Israel continued to rise. If everyone gets the vaccine, life can return to normal, but if a million people refuse the other eight million will have to endure lockdowns, he said.
“There’s a time when this discussion has to stop,” Bennett told the nation. “Science is clear: the vaccines work, they’re effective, they’re safe.”
As of August 8, Bennett announced, anyone who refuses to get vaccinated will no longer be allowed at any venue “above 100 people, both indoor and outdoor” – including theaters, sporting events, and houses of worship. To enter, people will have to show proof of vaccination, proof they had Covid-19 and recovered, or a negative test, obtained at their own expense.
Israel has been using the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA coronavirus vaccine. On Thursday, the Health Ministry in Tel Aviv said that its effectiveness in preventing infection and mild symptoms has decreased to only 40%, based on data collected over the past month as the Delta variant spread.
Two weeks ago, the Health Ministry had said the vaccine’s efficacy against symptomatic illness stood at 64% and against serious illness at 93%, according to the daily Haaretz.
Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party, is serving as alternating PM in partnership with Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party. Last month, their coalition successfully put together enough votes in the Knesset to end the 12-year reign of Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
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