The government on Sunday was expected to continue debating the list of cities that must be placed under quarantine as part of the effort to combat the coronavirus outbreak racing through Israel.
According to the Health Ministry, as of Sunday morning, Israel has recorded 129,349 coronavirus cases, with 445 patients in serious condition.
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Some 102,107 patients have recovered from the disease, which has so far claimed the lives of 1,010 Israelis.
The ministers' decision will follow coronavirus commissioner Professor Ronni Gamzu's "stoplight system," which divided Israeli into "red," "orange," "yellow," and "green," cities according to their morbidity rate.
Some 30 "red" cities, where infection rate seems to be spiraling out of control, may face strict lockdown as of later this week.
The measure aims to try and prevent a nationwide lockdown, which experts agree will deal the economy – already struggling with a recession triggered by a two-months overall shutdown imposed in mid-March, when the pandemic first hit Israel – a crippling blow.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said Saturday that a nationwide lockdown was "inevitable."
Prof. Ran Balicer, a senior member of the Israeli Health Ministry's pandemic response team, said the move must be avoided, tweeting, "A lockdown is the worst of all evils."
Meanwhile, leaders of the ultra-Orthodox sector have declared a "revolt" against Gamzu after learning many of the localities slated for lockdown were Haredi communities.
The Haredi and Arab sectors in Israel have been plagued by a particularly high infection rate, mostly over not observing the Health Ministry's social distancing directives properly.
The mayors of several Haredi cities said Sunday that they would not cooperate with health and law enforcement officials seeking to impose citywide quarantines.
They claimed that their cities were labeled as "red" over "excessive testing" done in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
Gamzu is expected to meet with the heads of the Haredi community later on Sunday in an effort to prevent the emerging crisis.
Also on Sunday, the Assuta Institute for Health Services Research published a poll showing that when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, not all Israelis will rush to get it.
Assuta is the private medical care center of Maccabi Health Services, one of Israel's four health maintenance organizations. It commissioned the survey from the Midgam Polling Institute, which approached 505 respondents on the issue.
The poll found that while 75% of Israelis would be willing to get vaccinated, 20% would refuse to do so.
The public is wary of an untried vaccine, the data showed, with 56% of respondents saying that they "will not be the first to get it."
The poll found a correlation between Israelis willing to get the flu vaccine and those who would be willing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus: some 87% of those who had previously been vaccinated against the flu said they would be willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Among those who have not been vaccinated against the flu, 59% consented to getting a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.
Response rates to a coronavirus vaccine were particularly low among the ultra-Orthodox sector, where only 64% said they would be willing to consider being vaccinated.
The highest response rate to a potential vaccine was noted among Israelis ages 18-24 (82%) and those ages 55-64 (80%).
Some 77.7% of Israelis age 67 and over – the sector most vulnerable to the virus – said they would be willing to get vaccinated.
"It is important to encourage the public to get vaccinated routinely as a way to increase public response to a designated vaccine against the coronavirus," the researches said.
Assuta Chairman Prof. Joshua Shemer said that the data was "both important and troubling," adding that the Health Ministry "must launch an extensive public campaign immediately to explain how important it is to get vaccinated against the flu, especially for the elderly, children and those who are at increased medical risk.
"This is also important with regard to the healthcare system's ability to weather the influx of patients during the winter months.
"This also affects the public's response to getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. We must launch a public campaign immediately to encourage the public to get these vaccines," he told Israel Hayom.
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