Israel’s Vaccination Craze

Just a few weeks ago (or maybe days or hours — it’s not easy to remember these days), Israeli health officials were still worried about vaccination. In more than one public opinion poll, Israelis said they did want the vaccine, but maybe not now, maybe later, maybe when the better vaccine arrives, maybe after they see other people taking it successfully. Shipments of vaccines landed at the airport, the authorities began to prepare for the great operation, and the citizens seemed hesitant, unsure. Do we really want to be the first to try this? Do we play the role of lab mice? Is this safe?

Now, health officials are worried about the opposite problem. Do we have enough vaccines? Can shipments land earlier than expected? Is it time to slow down? Israelis, except for a few skeptics, are standing in lines to get the vaccine. They call, write, complain, try to reschedule to an earlier date and protest against irrational priorities (the right priority being: me first, everyone else later). They are proud to be living in the country with the fastest vaccination rate in the world — the whole world!

Consider this: Israel is a country of fewer than 10 million souls, of which about a third cannot receive a vaccine because of their young age (Israel, after all, is a young country). Realistically speaking, about five million vaccinated citizens (out of six million old enough) would be the current goal of the authorities. The pace of vaccinations is now about 100,000 a day. Do the math: A million every ten days. Four million by mid-February. All Israelis before their next Election Day.

All Israelis could get vaccinated before their next Election Day.

Election Day? Yes, this is very much on the minds of the politicians who must compete on Election Day, March 23. Because as puzzling as it might seem, Election Day might take place in an atmosphere of a post-coronavirus Israel. Of course, this is quite strange to imagine when the country is still at the beginning of a third lockdown and still has to contend with a vast number of daily infections. And yet, this lockdown feels different. It is the lockdown to end all lockdowns (or so we hope).

You can already feel this in the way our politicians recalibrated their messages. For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is all about making sure that Israel gets the vaccine early. Forget about his trial, his divisive language, his dysfunctional government, his tricks and his untruthfulness. Forget about all of his deficiencies and consider just this one quality: he gets important things done.

And what is true for him must be true for other contenders. Naftali Bennett was running the coronavirus crisis remedy. If there’s no coronavirus, there’s no such message for him to use. So, in recent days, Bennett has switched to economics. He switched to talking about what needs to be done in a post-pandemic world.

Is COVID-19 really going to be over by Election Day? It is too early to tell, and thus, strange things may happen. On the one hand, the politicians are speaking as if the end is near. On the other hand, they are considering necessary means to make the vote safe. Maybe the polls will be open until midnight to avoid lines. Maybe more polling places will be opened for the same reasons. And politicians are looking for ways for people in quarantine to vote. And for people who will still have COVID-19. And for people who refuse to get vaccinated and thus should not be allowed to get mixed with those who were inoculated.

The start of the pandemic was slow. It took time for us to take it all in and understand the new world of social distancing, masks and the occasional lockdown. The end of it feels fast, almost dizzying. Next week, the elders of my family all get vaccines. I come next, when the fifty-year-old and up category gets its turn. I have children in the military — they will get their vaccines as fast as the IDF decides, based on their current position and role. But all of it is going to happen — fingers crossed — in five, six, seven weeks. So, this could end before Passover. This could mean that we can have a family Seder.

Could we?