Prof. Ash to Ynet on the morning of leaving the quarantine: “I am not calm”

“No, I’m not calm,” Fire answered the question about his feelings this morning. “If you come out of quarantine with a relatively high morbidity, then the commandment of each of us is to be careful to wear a mask, not to gather, to give up entering a crowded place. Everyone has to protect himself and his family, the families of us all.”

– Talking about opening education on Tuesday, does that make sense?
“We are trying to find the balance between the need to return the education system to activity and the need to protect it and all of us. What has been determined is that in areas with lower morbidity, in green cities, we will return to activity. We do this on a daily basis. We will monitor the data daily to see that there is no increase in morbidity. Here too, I call on everyone to be careful and follow the guidelines – Everything remains the same in terms of masks and distance“.

– Do you trust that they will follow your instructions, that they will study outside on a cool, rainy day?
“It is indeed complex and we know that on rainy days it is not possible to teach. Yes, there is an attempt to get back on track if even problematic and limited. First we want to take advantage of this week which looks better in terms of weather. There is no ideal here in this plague, very difficult to implement “Renewal of activity in the economy, an education system in the face of such illness, and trying to find the right way. It may be rainy in two days and we will stop with it, but we will gain some back to the track of students and that also has value.”

– According to studies around the world, the masks worn by students significantly reduce morbidity. Maybe charge everyone for that?
“This duty exists. I do not know that there are classes without a mask. Both in the classrooms and outside, distances must be maintained between capsules. There are many guidelines that must be observed.”

Prof. Ash referred to the British strain and said that “it is true that it is more contagious, and more Children who are about 40% of all verified recently. Again, the balance that needs to be found is in bringing back education and caring for children. We did not return all the classes and in full form in the red and orange areas, we will have to keep track of the data. It’s not a simple thing, but we made an informed and careful enough decision. “

– Are you more or less worried about the ultra-Orthodox sector?
“I am worried about the opening in all the red areas. There are a lot of ultra-Orthodox red cities and I am also worried about what is happening there. The key is to follow the guidelines.”

– There was no enforcement in the closure, so how will there be non-closure enforcement?
“There has been enforcement and there are limits to enforcement. There is greater significance to the violation of the guidelines and they need to be implemented, there is no other way. It is impossible to say ‘let’s do nothing’ and on the other hand ‘let’s get back on track.’ We want to find the right balance. “Try to be open and adhere to the guidelines. In places that do not meet the guidelines, enforcement is needed.”

– What are the findings of the vaccine against the British and South African strains?
“We found the British strain in our test. According to the literature in the world, the vaccine works and its effectiveness is not harmed. We do not yet have our local answers regarding the South African variety, it is being tested these days“.

– What does the Ministry of Health do in terms of information? Young people do not come to get vaccinated, there is a gap with the lower populations.
“The young people are coming, since we opened the vaccines for everyone the queues have been filled and I hope it will continue. There is a lot of publicity activity, and the use of the green label that will begin soon will encourage even more. We bring vaccine complexes to the villages, vehicles arrive there with MDA. Dealing with Pike News and encouraging anti-immunization is not easy. “

RegardingFighting Pike News against vaccinesThe project manager said: “We are there, working against it, but it is not noticeable so we will increase the activity. Vaccine opponents know this from campaigns in the past. It is not an easy task and we will look at the issue again because I heard voices saying we are not being heard enough. “We are launching another campaign. Let us remember that in the vaccination campaign we are in a very high percentage. It is true that it is becoming more and more difficult as we encounter populations that did not want to be vaccinated.”

Prof. Ash said that more than 2 million Israelis have already received the vaccine, and more than 5 million vaccines have been given in total: “We are definitely progressing at an excellent rate,” he said. “We see that the vaccines work and we also see the rate of infection among those who received the second The vaccines – and a week ago – are lower. We’re processing the data. And I’m still saying – The decline in the number of serious patients in hospitals is slow and I hope the impact will be seen soon“.

– What do you say to parents who are afraid to send their children?
“First of all, I say to kindergarten teachers – go get vaccinated. Also for teachers and all teaching staff. The immunization rate among them is about 60%, not high enough. Everyone needs to get vaccinated to maintain their health.”

– To a teacher who has not been vaccinated, you say not to open the kindergarten?
“I can’t say that, but I tell her ‘go get vaccinated.’ You can’t tell a teacher who hasn’t been vaccinated not to open the kindergarten.”

– But you can recommend.
“The recommendation is to get vaccinated. Even after getting vaccinated, you should adhere to masks and other guidelines from the Ministry of Health.”