Former Director General of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Gabi Barbash, spoke this morning (Friday) with Nissim Mashaal on 103FM about the encouraging decline in coronary heart disease data recorded in recent days, as well as ahead of the opening of the economy on Sunday and the fear of gatherings on Purim.
On Sunday, the malls, the trade, part of the education system will open. Does it bother you? I have heard experts say that it can lead to injury to human life.
“I do not know, I do not express myself in expressions of harm to human life. In general, I think the State of Israel or its leadership is taking a gamble as it builds on vaccines and even comes out gradually in the presence of disease, verified people, in such numbers of 5,000 and more “Vigorous, so there is a gamble here. Will we win that the vaccine will really protect us in such a way that we will not suffer as a result of the onset of the disease that may arise, and perhaps new variants that will develop during the disease? The future will tell.”
The government took a gamble, would you take such a gamble?
“It’s unnecessary to talk about what I would do, because I’m not where they do, and I would also do differently at the exit from the previous two closures. My ambition has always been to reach dozens of cases and control small fires, almost like they do in New Zealand and Australia. We have all the capabilities for that. And we are not there at the level of decisions. “
Was there a mistake?
“They took a gamble here, and relied on the vaccines and started in the presence of high morbidity. Obviously there is a gamble here.”
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Is it a mistake to take such a gamble?
“Everyone will do the math for themselves, everyone has different considerations. Employment, education, children sitting at home, if I were in a determining position I would say what I think, but needless to say whether it is a mistake or not.”
Where are we stuck in the war in Corona? Give me a snapshot.
“I think we’re not stuck, the vaccines really do an amazing job. If you ask where we’re stuck – somewhere in the public perception that the vaccine is the appearance of everything, it’s not like that. The vaccines and with another million or two to be vaccinated, without the morbidity in the field will decrease. “
She’s not coming down.
“But maybe it’s going down in the wake of vaccines, that’s the gamble. Look at what’s going on in the world right now, the US, England, India, Germany, a great many countries in the world even before vaccines start to show a decline in both verified and mortality. Maybe this bet will work for us. Perhaps in parallel with what is happening in the world, the same thing will happen here, regardless of vaccines. But one important thing to remember – this virus does not go away, it remains and there will always be infection pockets here and in the world that will require different behavior and vaccines. “
Including another vaccine for the two we received?
“Probably so. I’m not thrilled by the results of lab experiments in which patients’ plasma or blood is tested or recovering from the virus and how the antibodies neutralize it. “Much stronger than can be seen in these studies. I think we will probably need another booster that will update the vaccine with the South African model. We will probably get there, sometime in half a year, and that will be our share of the flu.”
Every year we get vaccinated?
“Once in a while, I do not know if every year because it depends on the level of morbidity, how to close the airport, there are a lot of questions some of which depend on our management, in which we are not the most outstanding nation.”
Purim is approaching as you know, and Likud ministers are attacking the outline that is being formed. Netanyahu surrendered to the ultra-Orthodox. How should the ultra-Orthodox be treated on Purim?
“Haredim, we forgot what happened here last month? The government has no control over the Haredim. They are doing what they think is right. By the way, the reality there is really not terrible at the moment. We are seeing a decrease in morbidity among Haredim even more than in other sectors. He cares he will do what he has to do, and whoever puts other values first will do what he wants. The government does not control them anyway, they do what they want. For all of us I would be wary of Purim parties and places where we are with a lot of people. The South African is only 50 percent controlled by the vaccine, the strength is half and I am troubled by the fact that there is a South African variant here and if we give it the pillow of morbidity at such parties and it is very contagious like the British strain it will take over here and we will have a hard time taking control later.
Not going to read a scroll?
“Depending on the conditions, if vaccinated people come there his daughter is green and if the distance is maintained it is possible to walk, and if not – no.”