Vaccine drives hit obstacles as Israelis have been asked to wait months for shots

Many complained that if their calls could get through to their Health Watch Organizations, they received an order in February or even March. The majority of complaints came from members of the largest HMO Clalit.

Cheli Koren said she tried to make time for her father to get the vaccine. “I stayed on the line for 42 minutes,” she said, “and when I explained that I was calling on behalf of my 74 – year – old father, I was ordered in March. I asked if there was a way to get an earlier date, I was told to keep going to see if there were more dates available, my father lives alone and we are worried It ‘s very worrying, “she said.

“My 93-year-old mother lives in Ramat Gan,” said Anat who lives in the middle of the country. “My sister and I tried to make an appointment for her but the earliest available date was February 12. We saw celebrities getting the vaccine on television at Ichilov Medical Center in nearby Tel Aviv, but my older mother has to wait? ” she called and said that even that late job was accomplished after hours of waiting on the phone line over three days.

Others said that they, who were over 60, could not arrange meetings while their much older parents were able to do so.

“My husband and I, who are 67 and 74 years old, yesterday but my 90-year-old mother had a meeting in February,” said Esti, who lives in the north of the country. my mother is so upset, ”she said.

Esti and her husband were willing to travel to Karmiel, half an hour from home to get their photos but hoped to find a meeting closer to home for her elderly mother.

“We tried a few towns nearby, but all posts were a month or two away. We might just pick up at one of the places used to the public vaccinating and asking to be given her bullet, “Esti said.

Anat Shchori from Herzliya had a similar story. Her father registered with the Clalit HMO said all his friends belonging to other health providers have already received their vaccines but he was prescribed in February.

“He’s been attached to the house for almost a year,” she said.

Complaints have also been made about long waits for vaccines at the points of inoculation.

One woman said she had been waiting hours for vaccines not to be delivered.

“I don’t understand. Don’t they know how many people plan to arrive to get their pictures?” She asked. “First it takes forever to get the order and then you have to wait for the vaccine to be delivered. They could have notified us that there was a delay,” she said.

Clalit HMO addressed the problems with the positive public response to the vaccination campaign and said they will overcome the increased demand and care for all members.

The Maccabi HMO set up a driveway for Wednesday inoculations at Sammy Ofer’s Haifa football stadium where 3,000 people received their vaccines.

Ruth Kaufman, head of Maccabi’s northern division, said this was a one-of-a-kind facility.

“We want to stop people from gathering and we want healthy people to be able to get their pictures safely inside their cars,” she said.

“I think the response from the public has been good although there are still some places where people are waiting to get the vaccine. I’m sure in time more people will agree. We are fully registered, “she said.

On Wednesday, 140,000 people were admitted and medical staff and Israelis over 60 years were the only members of the public eligible for the vaccine.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein instructed hospitals to join HMOs in the vaccination effort.

Since Tuesday, the 200,000 residents of geriatric care facilities and retirement homes have also started receiving the vaccines.

One resident commented that he was excited. “I want this pandemic to be out of this world,” he said. “I’ve been living here for the last 14 months and the first four were an explosion with a lot of activity, but when the pandemic broke out everything stopped. I can’t wait to get rid of this mask and I won’t have to go for a coronavirus test every day or two, “he said.