From my lifelong friend Paul Mirbach (PEM ), who now lives in Israel , and writes for various magazines ….
This is what he said about Naftali Bennett‘s announcement about openning up there country and imploring people to get vaccd- with uncomfortable consequences for non vaccers .
PEM’s Post
I don't usually write posts about Covid and the vaccine. However, I must get this off my chest.
Although Naftali Bennett was undiplomatic, to say the least, the point of the matter is that people's refusal to get vaccinated is hindering Israel's ability to effectively deal with the pandemic.
It's not only the issue of herd immunity, or effective herd immunity against serious illness (which has been established).
It has to do with society being able to function with confidence. Not knowing if the person next to you is vaccinated or not, causes tension and suspicion among us. It causes us to fear others with whom we interact and this is causing a breakdown of our social contract. I think we all have a social responsibility to restore confidence in one another.
It is disturbing and frightening that the vaccine's efficacy has dropped from 98% to about 39% against contracting COVID, but is about 91% from getting seriously ill. (Link below). But that doesn't invalidate the value of the vaccine. That is not a justification not to get vaccinated, it is an acceptance that the vaccine should not be seen as a "sure thing" but a measure to enhance our chances.
The question you need to ask yourself is this, in my opinion: If you discovered - Gd forbid - that you had cancer and you were told that if you had chemo you would have a 35% chance of living, would you refuse treatment because it's "only 35%, so what's the point"? And that goes for the side-effects, too.
Only respectful responses, please.