As vaccines weaken, Israel fights misinformation online

The Ministry of Health, which is leading the vaccination efforts, is using both warnings and encouragement while trying to persuade trusted inmates to get vaccinated. They have set up a digital action group to counter sputum claims about the vaccines, while local governments are turning to DJs and free food to lure people to vaccination centers. In a short time, receptions and museums could be unlimited for people without vaccinations.

“Decide whether you are part of the celebration or whether you will be left behind,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Twitter. “Just lend a shoulder to the vaccine.”

Since their COVID-19 vaccine campaign was launched in December, more than a quarter of the population – 2.5 million people – have received both doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, according to the Ministry of Health. Over 44% have had their first sightings.

Vaccination rates are among the highest in the world, and many countries are looking to the Israeli experience to understand what the future holds.

But worryingly, Israel has fallen in vaccine levels since making the vaccine available to everyone over 16 this month. In February, Israel averaged just over 106,000 vaccinations per day, down from the January daily average of more than 127,000 per day, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

The trust of some groups in the population to get the vaccine is a major reason that disease levels remain high.

Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has reported more than 5,000 new cases daily over the past week, according to the ministry. In total, the country has recorded more than 723,000 cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic and nearly 5,400 deaths – more than 20% of them last month.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has raised hopes of a reconsideration of the vaccination campaign, said the only obstacle to ending the action was “false news and superstitious beliefs. and sometimes maliciously posted in the public and on the internet. “

The Ministry of Health has invested millions of dollars in its efforts to educate the public.

The task has been complicated by the fact that different sections of society have opposed vaccination calls for various reasons.

As for the ultra-rectangular, some influential religious leaders have called on their followers not to get vaccinated. At the same time, Israel’s Arab minority tends to suffer from a lack of trust in Jewish leadership. And younger Israelis often think they can’t be really sick.

Einav Shimron, deputy director of the Ministry of Health for international relations, said the ministry is working with doctors and religious leaders to counter misinformation, such as claims that the vaccine may be infertile.

The ministry manages a control center with 11 followers who will monitor social media activity for anti-vaccine posts in Hebrew, Russian, Amharic, Arabic and English on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram. The center is adding more staff in the coming days.

The promise is like a whack-a-mole for conspiracy theories.

Shimron said the center is alerting the Ministry of Justice to any misinformation, and the ministry is immediately pressing the social media networks to dispel the false claims. “We have called the police several times” because the false claims are a public health risk, she said.

In the ultra-direct community, where Internet usage is low, the response is often more technical. Anti-vaccine rabbits have made false claims on posters – known as pashkevils – which are commonly used to spread messages among believers. The ministry goes against pashkevils themselves.

Rabbi Yuval Hacohen Asherov, a popular Jewish preacher with an online follower who has claimed that germs do not cause diseases, has posted several anti-vaccine videos with hundreds of thousands of comments. A recent video falsely stated that the COVID-19 vaccine caused death.

“Why run? Why vaccinate now? Won’t we do it in half a year – maybe. We’ll see what happens,” Ashrov said. “Why should Switzerland and China use us as guinea pigs to see what happens?”

The Ministry of Health has called on the Ministry of Justice to try to extract Asherov’s videos from YouTube and said it is “endangering the public.”

Asherov declined requests for comment. It was unclear if YouTube was formally discussed.

But Avishai Matia, another anti-vaccination campaigner, said his Facebook and Twitter accounts with thousands of followers were shut down this month in what he described as a “violent response by the tech giants there. the collaboration with the WHO and other organizations. “

Matia has mistakenly described the Pfizer vaccine as an “experimental drug” that is being tested on Israeli citizens.

In fact, it has been licensed for emergency use in the US and Europe. In exchange for obtaining sufficient sizes for its population, Israel has agreed to share data with Pfizer, although it is not conducting any tests.

Facebook did not respond to requests for comment about the cooperation with the Israeli authorities.

At the same time, authorities are planning an incentive to get people injected. The Ministry of Health and Culture said Sunday that museums, libraries, concert venues and other cultural events will open later this month – but only for those who have been fully vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health is also listing dozens of Israeli social media influencers to promote vaccination in a concert with their own online video campaign.

One new message released on Valentine’s Day showed a man showing his girlfriend a small box with the appearance of an engagement ring. “Can you get the vaccine with me?” He asks, while she opens the box to find a vaccine vial.

The ultra-rectangular town of Bnei Brak has tried to promote vaccination by serving free cholent – a heart steward – to residents who come in for vaccinations. A city spokesman said Operation Cholent on Thursday had tripled the average number of recipients.

Holon, Tel Aviv’s mainstay, has garnered support from DJs and party sensations to entice people over 16 to get vaccinations. Ministry figures show that Israelis aged 16-30 have been vaccinated at levels well below the national average.

For many young and middle-aged Israelis, however, access to coronavirus vaccines has been a sufficient incentive to line up.

At a vaccination center in Tel Aviv, Moran Keret, 44, said a friend persuaded her to go. “The corona doesn’t go away. So if it doesn’t disappear, I’m here.”