Health Ministry not concerned with COVID vaccination rate among haredim

This being the case, the number of those already with antibodies to the coronavirus in the ultra-Orthodox sector would be even higher, said the spokesman.

By JEREMY SHARON
A haredi Orthodox man waits to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Bnei Brak, a haredi city in Israel, Dec. 21, 2020. (photo credit: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
A haredi Orthodox man waits to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Bnei Brak, a haredi city in Israel, Dec. 21, 2020.
(photo credit: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in the ultra-Orthodox sector is currently lagging behind the national average, although officials in the Health Ministry have said that several factors explain the lag and they are not concerned by the situation.
According to statistics released by the ministry, 49% of ultra-Orthodox residents over the age of 60 in exclusively ultra-Orthodox cities have received the vaccine, such as Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit and Elad.
This compares to the national average of 75% for this age group.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry’s ultra-Orthodox public outreach unit said, however, that two major reasons account for this gap in vaccination rates.
He noted that the infection rate in the ultra-Orthodox community has been significantly higher in the sector, and said specifically that some 14% of men and women in the community over the age of 60 have been infected and recovered from the disease.
Such high numbers of recovered COVID-19 patients mean that there are fewer people in the sector to vaccinate, said the spokesman, and a higher rate of immune people than just those who have been vaccinated.
Furthermore, he said that significant numbers of people were infected with the disease but declined to get tested if their symptoms were not serious due to a variety of reasons, ranging from not wanting to go to coronavirus hotels or to put other people into isolation, to not wanting to have a limited number of people at their funeral if they died from the virus.
This being the case, the number of those already with antibodies to the virus in the ultra-Orthodox sector would be even higher, said the spokesman.
He added that significant, although not huge, numbers of ultra-Orthodox residents of Bnei Brak have been vaccinated outside of the city in neighboring Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva, which would reduce the official statistics for vaccinations in Bnei Brak in particular.
In general, the HMOs are satisfied with the current rate of vaccinations in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
One concern the ministry does have is what will happen when the vaccination is made available to lower age groups, particularly among women of child-bearing age.
Original recommendations for pregnant women not to be vaccinated led to concerns in the ultra-Orthodox community among women of child-bearing age more broadly.
To combat this problem, the ministry’s ultra-Orthodox public outreach unit has initiated a campaign specifically targeting this segment of the population.
On Thursday, it enlisted the assistance of Rebbetzin Leah Kolodetsky, the daughter of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the most senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the world, to specifically encourage female teachers to get vaccinated.
“Dear women, we have reached the state in which God has sent the cure to the disease,” she said in a message broadcast before she got her second vaccine shot on Thursday.
“There are always concerns about new vaccinations, but we have the great rabbis for this. The rabbis have instructed us to get vaccinated and all of us are doing it,” she continued, adding that doing so would save lives in the community.