After spending much of 2020 in prison, makeup artist Artyom Kavnatsky was ready to return to work. But when he showed up for a recent photo shoot, the person who employed him didn’t want to let him work. The reason? He was not vaccinated against the corona virus.
“He sent me back because I wasn’t vaccinated,” said Kavnatsky. “That’s discrimination, it’s not right.”
Israel’s intense vaccination campaign made it one of the first countries to resume its pre-pandemic routines. Bars, shops, hotels and gyms have reopened in Israel, where 80% of the adult population has been vaccinated and COVID-19 infections and deaths have declined.
Israel is an example of what a powerful vaccination campaign can do, but it can also be an example of how to deal with the problems that lie ahead: work sites and schools decide what to do with people who refuse to be vaccinated. And a clash has been generated between the advocates of public health and the rights of the individual, simultaneously raising new questions about equality. One case went to court and more are expected to follow.
Airlines are weighing up whether they need vaccinations or negative tests to travel, as the European Union is doing. Some officials in Britain and the United States are looking into whether immunization tests can open the doors to large gatherings, although the United States remains quite resistant to that move. Even more delicate is the question of whether immunization should be a requirement to return to work or school.
In many countries, the decisions being made can increase divisions over wealth and access to vaccines.
In Israel, the vast majority of the 100,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank and licensed to work in Israel have been vaccinated, but in the West Bank and Gaza the vaccination is long overdue. In many parts of the world they have received little or no vaccines.
Israel has given people a range of incentives to get vaccinated. It created a “green pass” for vaccinated people that gives access to concerts, dinners, the gym and popular tourist destinations such as Egypt, Cyprus and Greece. Those who don’t have the pass cannot do all of that.
The system works well in the entertainment sector. But now it is expanding into other areas, and health authorities recommend banning access to schools, nursing homes and other workplaces if someone has not recently tested negative for COVID.
In contrast, the Israeli health system requires that all of its employees – doctors, nurses, office workers, and support staff – be vaccinated. If they refuse, they will be transferred to areas where there is no contact with high-risk patients.
Labor rights organizations say those rules can put people’s income at risk.
There are similar concerns in the education sector. Tel Aviv University, Israel’s largest, has struck a delicate balance for the time being.
The university will resume classes in person, but only vaccinated students will be admitted, Vice Chancellor Eyal Zisser said. Those who are not vaccinated should continue to attend telecourses.
“At this initial stage, students can come up with the green pass and make sure everyone else has access to the classes,” said Zisser online.
Despite the success of his campaign, there are hundreds of thousands of people in Israel who have not been vaccinated, some because they are against vaccines in general, others because they fear a vaccine being produced too quickly. However, experts from the United Nations, the United States and Europe have said that vaccines licensed in Israel are safe and effective.
Kavnatsky, the makeup artist, questions vaccines and modern medicine in general, saying he doesn’t want “needles in my body.” You are not alone. He is one of 15,000 members of a Facebook group opposing what he describes as forced state immunization.
Rappeh, a political party led by Aryeh Avni, which strongly opposes the vaccine, received 17,000 votes in parliamentary elections last week. That was not enough to enter parliament, but it illustrates the challenge facing lawmakers.
The Israeli Ministry of Health admits that its powers are limited.
“We cannot force people to get vaccinated,” said Einav Shimron, deputy director of international relations at the ministry.
The Israel Civil Rights Association, a nongovernmental organization dealing with labor issues, said long-term use of the green pass raises potential civil rights concerns and called on the government to pass legislation on the issue.
“If it becomes a policy that violates a person’s right to work and a person’s right to choose what they do with their bodies to be employed, then it must be subject to the legislative process,” said Maya spokeswoman. Fried. “There must be a public debate.”
The debate is already underway in the courts.
In the first major ruling on the matter, a Tel Aviv labor court in March authorized a daycare center to veto an employee who refused to be vaccinated and tested for the coronavirus. It is foreseeable that an appeal will be lodged against the decision.
Dr. Nadav Davidovitch, director of the Israel Public Health Service Physicians Association, says people have a duty to get vaccinated, especially in light of evidence that the vaccine not only prevents the worst effects of COVID-19 infection, but rather, it reduces the spread of the virus. Israel has a population of 9.3 million and just over 6,000 dead since the start of the pandemic.
“The vaccine is an act of solidarity, not just an individual option,” he said.
Still, he said he opposes mandatory vaccination and firing people for refusing immunization. He indicated that those who insist on refusing could get a different job, work from home, or be subject to continuous testing.
Davidovitch, who was an epidemiologist for the armed forces, says 90% of Israeli recruits did not want to be vaccinated when they signed up and eventually accepted by being educated on the topic.
“It’s not a good idea to force people,” he said. “Most people have doubts. They are not against vaccines in general ”.