Rabbi Kanievsky repeats call for ultra-Orthodox to get vaccinated

The rabbi relented however at the beginning of the current lockdown and agreed that schools in the sector should close for “several days.”

By JEREMY SHARON
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky meets with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (photo credit: HEALTH MINISTRY)
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky meets with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein
(photo credit: HEALTH MINISTRY)
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the most senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the world, repeated his call for the ultra-Orthodox community to get the COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.
His call comes as vaccination rates have tailed off among the ultra-Orthodox community and as the Health Ministry seeks to understand why and step up its vaccination drive in the sector.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein visited Kanievsky at his home in Bnei Brak on Wednesday and presented details of the current infection and mortality rates and the heavy burden this has placed on hospitals during the third wave.
According to a statement by the Health Ministry, Kanievsky repeated his call to the ultra-Orthodox community to get vaccinated, emphasizing that teaching staff should get it quickly so as to allow the ultra-Orthodox school system to reopen.
In December, Kanievsky together with Rabbi Gershon Edelstein and Rabbi Shalom Cohen, recommended that those who are able to receive the coronavirus vaccine should get vaccinated.
Kanievsky has however been highly reluctant to close down schools during the pandemic when required by the government, believing such a step would cause spiritual and physical harm to the Jewish people.
The rabbi relented however at the beginning of the current lockdown and agreed that schools in the sector should close for “several days.”
Edelstein requested on Wednesday that Kanievsky give instructions to continue the school closure to which the rabbi reportedly responded that he had already done so.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry said it wasn’t exactly clear why vaccination rates have declined in the ultra-Orthodox community.
He added however that there have been problems for elderly members of the community to get to vaccination sites in some cities, while pregnant women and women of child bearing age have become hesitant to get vaccinated.
The spokesman also noted that a high, although unknown, percentage of the community has already been infected with COVID-19 and recovered which would naturally reduce the number of people in the community needing to be vaccinated.