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According to Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania, Yossef Levy, 63 percent of the country’s population is vaccinated. According to Dr. A. Salmon, the situation in Israel is similar to that of Lithuania, because the territories of our countries are very small, although the population of Israel is slightly larger and its society is quite young.
“There are only about 12 percent of people over the age of 65,” he said.
He also stated that Israel passed a law to ensure that all residents (including temporary residents) receive all medical services.
“We have a lot of competition in the market and very clear rules for health organizations to function properly. We also have excellent vaccinated children and up to 97 percent. babies are vaccinated. “
The third wave is over
Speaking about handling the pandemic, Salmon said work began in 2020. In January, hardly any information was received from China on the spread of the coronavirus. According to him, the virus reached Israel from Italy and thus began the first wave. Then 16 thousand. people fell ill and many died. After the first wave was under control, a second wave emerged in early summer, which lasted until September 1, when the state reopened for travel.
“The national closure plan had to be applied again. However, when the borders were reopened, another variation of the virus came from the UK, and then we closed the country for the third time. “
He said the third wave ended a successful vaccine campaign, which made Israel’s reopening possible.
“Quarantines were also associated with celebrations, public events. (…) Currently around a dozen cases are registered per day, and the ambulance centers are empty, with a maximum of 200 people living with COVID-19 in hospitals. We have closed many chapters of COVID-19 because they are simply no longer needed in the last 8 weeks. “
Mr Salmon said that more than 5 million Israelis received two doses of the vaccine and a vaccination certificate or green passport to prove it.
“In all, 10.5 million. Were injected with the vaccine and given the second dose of the vaccine according to the manufacturer’s directions. To date, 90 percent have been vaccinated. At least one dose has been given to all older people. 60 years and those over 16. (…) 90 percent. Police officers and other professionals who work with people have also been vaccinated. “
The Israeli doctor is considering when it will be possible to start vaccinating the very young and has asked Pfizer to vaccinate adolescents between 12 and 16 years old. According to him, if it is approved, the pertinent laws will be approved and possibly it will begin to do it next month.
“We started by reducing morbidity and mortality as quickly as possible. (…) It was obvious that the system had to be as simple as possible, so we chose a different plan from the other countries. We decided not to vaccinate the high-risk groups, but to vaccinate those who could become ill due to age.
These were people over 60 years of age and all doctors, regardless of their specialization, were vaccinated. It was unclear whether the first to come into contact with humans should be vaccinated, but in the end they were vaccinated as well. For example, firefighters, policemen, etc. “
As a result, Solmon said, the epidemiological situation had improved during the eighth week and it was possible to vaccinate anyone over 16 years of age.
“It was also very important to monitor side effects, so we created a computer system where we recorded all side effects after vaccination. They were also able to report them even one week after vaccination if there was a suspicion that it was related.”
In ten weeks, he explained, he had managed to get everyone who wanted to get vaccinated from the age of sixteen. He also said that it was very important to make sure the vaccines were stored in the right conditions, so a single logistics center was set up.
“I must say that more than 200,000 people were vaccinated during the vaccination peak. People per day, and now 7 thousand are vaccinated. During the day. If in the past everyone wanted to be vaccinated, now we are looking for who needs to inject ourselves. We also have many residences and we have included them so that all the elderly can be vaccinated ”.
In addition, he says, it has managed to partially reach people who want to be vaccinated so that ambulances can reach their homes, but it remains a challenge to reach the entire population.
“We learned some lessons: first we set up a call center. It was equipped for vaccination professionals and the line was always open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Another line was created for the general public and designed to reduce people’s fear and the number of visits to the doctor.
In addition, there were residents who could not reach the doctors, so that telephone line was of great help to them. We also realized the need to ensure that doses of vaccines were also administered to people living at home, we took into account how many people could be vaccinated with a vaccine and started the training. We first trained hospital staff, then staff from four other health care organizations. “
He urged to take into account that vaccines do not contribute 100 percent. protection against coronavirus infection, and it has already been observed in Israel that even people vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine became infected.
“One of the most difficult technical things for us was creating the right vaccination information system, and we needed to make it work not only with health organization systems, but also with hospitals.”
Created two certificates
A. Salmon emphasized that they, like Lithuania, needed to prepare the public for vaccination, because there are also “antivaksaks” in their country, although few.
“However, we focused on those people who doubted whether they wanted to or not. It was that false or lying propaganda that also tried to reach those people who were skeptical. Therefore, the essence of our campaign was to persuade people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
At first, people thought that the number of vaccines was limited, so they rushed to get vaccinated for fear that if they delayed, they would no longer receive the vaccines. However, after vaccinating the elderly, we still face the same problem that we have to persuade people to get vaccinated. I think the main thing is to speak accurately, frankly and we have to convince ourselves, based on scientific evidence, of the benefits of the vaccine. “
In general, he noted, Orthodox Jewish communities do not use multiple social networks, so ways had to be found to reach them.
“We tried to meet with local leaders and talk to them about the benefits of vaccination so they could share it with their communities again. Of course, we still have difficulties with the radical orthodox, who are very difficult to reach and persuade.
The challenge was somewhat different with the Muslim and Arab communities, as they mostly received a variety of information in the form of liars, had less trust in the government, and had less access to lifestyle vaccines. Campaigns were organized on the ground for these communities. “
Salmon said that two types of certificates are currently being issued in Israel. The first is the vaccination certificate, which is not only used internationally but also locally.
“All of our certificates are issued electronically, all you have to do is buy an application that opens on your phone or computer. (…) The second certificate is like a passport issued to people who have already been vaccinated and allows them to access places marked with a green sign.
Those places are for people who have already been vaccinated. For example, a variety of cultural events or a variety of places where people who have already been vaccinated can choose and where there is a lower risk of infection ”.
According to him, when such passports were created, it was possible to resume many social activities. Those passports are said to be used by adults, but a system for children has also been developed.
“Stores and pharmacies are open to those with purple passports and we are currently talking very intensively with 21 countries, including 6-7 countries in the European Union, about the recognition of our vaccination certificates. (…) I would very much like to have an agreement of this type on the recognition of certificates between Lithuania and Israel ”.
In his opinion, it is better to keep a more centralized vaccination process in small states and he says that it is very important to vaccinate as many people as possible so that life can really be released.
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