Naftali Bennett is calling on people aged 60 and over to go and get vaccinated, but health insurance companies are only scheduling appointments for those seeking to be vaccinated against the coronavirus until the end of the month.
The reason for the failure? Health funds suffer from a shortage of vaccines and a lack of manpower.
In a conversation that a News 13 reporter had with a representative of the Maccabi Health Fund, attempting to schedule a first appointment for a 15-year-old girl to be vaccinated, he was told that there were no available appointments. Later, when he checked to see if it was possible to schedule an appointment for a third vaccination, he was told again that it was not possible to schedule appointments.
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According to the dispatcher, it is not possible to schedule appointments at all locations across the country.
Senior health insurance company officials told Channel 13: The Ministry of Health asked to slow down the pace, due to a shortage of vaccines.
In an interview with Hadashot Hayom on Channel 13, Dr. Angela Ironi, head of the Sharon district at Maccabi, said: "What's holding us back from giving more appointments is the number of people, and when we get more people, we can vaccinate much more.".
Channel 12 also reported that many citizens are complaining about long wait times for their third dose of the coronavirus vaccine. According to the report, many of those eligible for the vaccine who call to make an appointment to receive the third dose are receiving - after a long wait in the appointment lines - a date that is not until the end of the month at the earliest.
Why is this happening? According to the report, the Ministry of Health informed the health insurance funds that the next vaccine shipment would only arrive in a few days, which delayed the ability to schedule appointments. In fact, no date has yet been set for the arrival of another vaccine shipment to Israel.
For example, Dorit Por and her husband Yigal from Ashdod, both in their 70s, are trying to make an appointment for a third vaccine dose, but the earliest date they received is August 30.
""On the one hand, the state is pressuring citizens to get vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent a lockdown, but on the other hand, the next appointment is only until the end of the month," they told News 12. "I called the health insurance company today, waited a long time on the line, and in the end they told me, 'There's no room.' In the meantime, we're avoiding meeting our grandchildren. After a year of suffering, do we have to suffer now too?".
Nadav, who only made an appointment for his 80-year-old grandparents for September 10 - more than a month away - told Channel 12: "The first available appointment they received is only on September 10. In all the reports about the fourth wave, the public is urged to go get vaccinated in the coming days with the third dose as the main thing that can stop the increase in seriously ill patients, but in reality the lines for vaccination are on the order of another month.".
Prime Minister Bennett continues to call on everyone to get vaccinated and says that there are vaccines for everyone, but listen to what Dr. Angela Ironi, head of the Sharon district at Maccabi, tells Today's News: "What's holding us back from giving more appointments is the full numbers, and when we get more full numbers, we can vaccinate much more.". pic.twitter.com/oHYe3XCufH
— almog boker (@bokeralmog) August 5, 2021
Tzipi from central Israel asked last Friday to make an appointment for her and her partner's third vaccination. Clalit Health Insurance set an appointment for both of them for August 26. "Of course we want to get vaccinated, we understand the importance and urgency of the issue," she said. "But I don't understand why the lines are so long if this national mission is so urgent.".
Meanwhile, MK Ofir Katz submitted a request on behalf of Likud members for an urgent convening of the Knesset plenum - "due to the unavailability of vaccines for Israeli citizens.".
