The Corona Chronicles – Confusion

There is a vigorous drive in motion here in Israel to push the vaccination of 5 – 11 year-olds, as well as to persuade the over-60s and people who are in high-risk categories due to existing health conditions, to get the second booster (ie. a fourth shot of the Pfizer vaccine which is supposed to protect us, if not against infection, at least against serious illness as a result of the COVID-19 virus). To this end, for the past few weeks, we have been seeing a “public service broadcast” on TV, which, in addition to urging the importance of getting “the Jab”, also reminds everyone that it is only after five weeks have elapsed from receiving the vaccine that one is protected against the virus. I have also heard experts reporting that two weeks after receiving the vaccine, one’s protection level is only up to 30%. Presumably they mean five weeks after receiving the first dose, since the second dose is given three weeks after the first and it is only one week after that that one is eligible to receive the Green Pass that enables one to enter restaurants, non-essential shops, theatres and cinemas, lecture halls, etc.
We also know that, while the vaccine might (and probably does) reduce the chances of being seriously ill, it does not prevent one from catching the virus, nor does it prevent those who are infected from infecting others. (I might add that on yesterday’s news, it was reported that one quarter of those currently defined as “seriously ill” are, in fact, fully vaccinated – although over 60.)

Why on earth, then, would the “Coronavirus Cabinet” approve a 30-day “temporary Green Pass” for all those who have received just one dose of the vaccine, but only on condition that they receive this dose before January 18th?

The answer is “to encourage people to get vaccinated”.

To encourage vaccination, the government decided that starting on Thursday, those who get jabbed with a first dose would immediately receive a temporary Green Pass, which gives access to several services and venues. It would be valid for one month.

Am I missing something here? If the virus is so dangerous that, in order to protect those who are fully vaccinated, it is necessary to exclude those who are not, from entering all the places I mentioned above and thereby coming into contact with those who are, then what is the sense in allowing in people who are not fully vaccinated, just to persuade them to become fully vaccinated. Conversely, if it is safe to allow people who have had only one dose of the vaccine to receive a temporary Green Pass, why is it necessary at all to have more than one dose of the vaccine?!
And if the denial of the right to enter shops, theatres, restaurants etc. is not sufficient to “encourage” people to get vaccinated, do they really believe that those who are vaccine-hesitant are going to be “persuaded” to get jabbed, in order to have that right for a brief 30-day window?

No wonder everyone is confused. No wonder everyone has lost faith in the government’s handling of the pandemic. And no wonder, under the circumstances, that everyone just digs themselves further and further into their own position and every piece of research, every news headline, every item of news is viewed only within the context of confirmation bias.

And that goes for the Government as well as the governed.

Still on the subject of the pandemic, two members of my choir tested positive for COVID this week, making the rest of us very – shall we say nervous? As a result, yesterday evening’s rehearsal was transferred to cyberspace and conducted via Zoom. We all hope this situation will not last long. We have had more than enough of that over the past two years (has it really been that long? How time flies!)

And this morning, I was informed that next week’s lecture in the Bible course I am attending has been postponed due to the spiralling rate of infection.

As you know, I like to leave my readers with a song, and my choice this time is influenced by another sad item from this morning’s News broadcast, concerning the death today, just eighteen days short of his 84th birthday, of Israeli poet, lyricist and author Yoram Tehar-Lev, after a long battle with “a difficult illness” (in Israel, that’s usually a euphemism for cancer). Tehar-Lev wrote the lyrics to hundreds of popular Israeli songs, perhaps the most famous of which is the one describing the Battle of Ammunition Hill, at the height of the 1967 Six Day War (partial translation here).

And it is with that song that I will leave you, till next time.