As Jerusalem prepares to launch its national COVID-19 vaccination campaign next week, Israeli health officials are stepping in to convince a population that is largely skeptical that they gain insights whose rapid development has raised concerns about the potential for side effects.
Israel has ordered millions of doses of the vaccine, developed jointly by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech in less than a year – far shorter than the standard ten-year process – and relied on new methods that are not commonly used in industry. But while clinical human trials have found that the vaccine is more than 90% effective and has begun to be given in the United States and the United Kingdom, many around the world have doubts. show big.
In an opinion poll released last month by the Israeli Institute for Democracy, a think tank in Jerusalem, only about 40% of Israelis said they would agree to participate in the first round of vaccinations as long as there were no more than half of them. Only 21% of the population said they were sure they would agree to be part of the first group to receive the vaccine, with a further 18.7% saying they thought they would agree, showing less certainty.
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It was found that Israelis and Arab women were less likely than their Jewish and male peers to adopt vaccines.
Most Israelis believe in vaccines. Dr. Or Anabi, one of the researchers behind the Israeli Institute for Democracy study, said his complaint about this one is based on concerns that are easy to understand.
“People are afraid that because the vaccine has not been tested as far as other previously developed vaccines we may not know everything about the long – term effects,” Anabi explained.
Such concerns are not limited to Israel. Although Americans have become increasingly willing to be circulated, there is still great skepticism in several European countries.
The institute’s figures follow a similar poll conducted recently by the University of Haifa, which found that 20.3% of Jewish-Israeli respondents and 16% of Arab-Israeli respondents said that They want to “get vaccinated immediately.”
A Haifa study, conducted by Manfred Green, director of the university’s international master’s program in public health, found that “7.7 percent of Jewish men, 29.4 percent of Arab men, 17.2 percent of Jewish women, and 41.2 Percentage of Arab women refusing the vaccine in any case, “reveals” a lack of trust in a large portion of the entire Israeli population. “
However, once the vaccination campaign is underway and “thousands have received it,” suspicion will pass and the number of people willing to be vaccinated will increase. great, ”Green told the Jewish Telegraph Group, citing a figure of 58.6% of Israeli Jews willing to be vaccinated as the program spreads.
One Israeli reached 60-70% coverage, will begin to reach herd immunity and “see how we can return to normal life,” Nadav Davidovitch, who heads Ben-Gurion University’s School of Public Health, told JTA.
“I see a real process where more information is becoming clearer and more effective interpretation is provided by experts, so suspicion is becoming lower, although it is clear that some very radical anti-vax groups trying to promote false news, “he said.
According to Davidovitch, it is especially important to convince medical workers in the first instance that they will get the vaccine to set an example to the public. The Ministry of Health, Israeli Medical Association and other organizations are working on an information awareness campaign through both traditional and social media intended to promote inoculation.
On Tuesday morning, after days of talks with Israeli health officials, several of Charedi’s top rabbits backed the use of the newly developed COVID-19 vaccines before the nationwide launch of the government, showing that the efforts could bear fruit.
The Charedi, or ultra-Orthodox community, was one of the hardest hit at the time of the pandemic. According to Israeli Health Officials, Charedi communities have accounted for at least 34% of cases despite just 12% of the total population.
Although Charedim trusts the rabbinic leadership more than the health authorities, the number of those willing to take the vaccine does not appear to be much larger than the general population, although it is higher than its population. average. About 40% of Charedi responded that they were convinced that they would agree to be vaccinated in the first round against 32% among national religious and 24% among secular.
As for the vaccine, the differences are not significant, “said researcher Anabi.
As for Davidovitch, he believes herd protection is affordable and “so many people set an example and get the vaccine… more people come in.”