Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, Professor Itamar Grotto, spoke with Nissim Mash’al and Anat Davidov on 103FM and spoke about the state of Israel after entering the third closure. “We will have to suffer from illness for quite some time until the vaccines start working,” the deputy CEO explained. In addition, Grotto explained what is behind the media quarrel with Education Minister Yoav Galant: “It is not against me, we are all in favor of students and reducing morbidity. It would have been good if we had closed the schools.”
Is there a closure in Israel?
“A large part of the activities in places where there is infection have stopped, it is true that it is something incomplete.”
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on entering the third closure
Are you kidding? Were you on the street? There is no closure you should know.
“There’s a significant drop in traffic, more people working from home, it’s shrinking, It is true that this is not what we would like, but I hope it will also do something. “
There is public distrust of you and the government completely and everything is open except the malls. You wave in closure.
“We think something short and purposeful needs to be done at this point, “Unfortunately, this is not what is happening and we will probably have to suffer from an illness for a long time until the vaccines start working.”
Just yesterday the number crossed the 4,500 and I do want to go back to vaccinations. Is there a problem with them? Because there is talk of a shortage of vaccines, and those who are vaccinated for the first time may not be able to get it after 21 days and this creates a problem.
“We instructed the funds to keep the second dose for those people as well, the matter of priority is very critical. We want to vaccinate the risk groups first, because it will allow us to operate more easily in terms of limitations.
Is there a shortage of vaccines?
“Obviously we do not have enough vaccines to vaccinate the entire population at the moment and therefore priority must be given. If we maintain the priority then there will be no shortage.”
Even in red and orange localities due to lack of clarity, students will continue to go to schools, there is no discipline. The Minister of Education would like to see everyone in the schools and he calls you a clerk, yes or no clerks, you do a very good job. How do you relate to his attempt to insult you? What does he want from you?
“It’s not something against me, we are all together in favor of the students and the reduction of morbidity. Even if the infection is not great in the schools, it exists, but worse than that, It comes out of schools at home and is contagious and eventually reaches older people as well“.
Yoav Galant (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni)What are you arguing about?
“The claim is that schools do not constitute centers of infection. I agree that they are not a very large center of infection, but students who are not in a risk group are infected. At the same time, Don’t know about all those who get infected, they go home and get infected and that’s the discussion. Schools do not start the morbidity and when there is a low morbidity it is possible to teach, But as the disease spreads, schools are a catalyst that accelerates the infection and spreads it to other places. It would have been good if during the closure we had closed the schools, at least in the upper grades as we requested. “
You and the Ministry of Health would like to see the entire education system closed?
“No, from 5th to 10th grade, and to continue studying in Zoom, we are aware of the constraints and take them into account. The Cabinet made the decision but the Knesset decided otherwise, this is the democratic situation in the State of Israel.”
It just dreamed in all its glory, a celebration and we are under the heading “Fighting Illness”. You have no word on the Education Committee.
“Its political composition is different and therefore this is the situation. We are in a complicated political situation where there is not exactly a functioning coalition, so it is also difficult to pass decisions. There are many decisions that have been made in a matter-of-fact and good manner.”
What is happening in the ultra-Orthodox sector? There is a surprising jump in morbidity.
“Seeing the leap over a week, two weeks so this is one of the reasons we thought to take the more restrictive steps. The problem there is a combination, it could be that the mutation is more contagious, we are testing it and it will take time. We know that even less adherence to the guidelines because the vaccine has arrived and think the business is over. This is the most critical step in maintaining the guidelines so that we do not have to reach hundreds of patients in hospitals. “
Are you not frustrated that no one is listening to you?
“Regarding the vaccine, we are listened to and people respond to the vaccine and understand the need. There is a problem of trust here, but we see this phenomenon all over the world.”