Following reports the Israel Prison Service would soon begin to administer vaccinations, Interior Minister Amir Ohana on Saturday evening said he had issued a directive saying prison staff would receive the vaccine and prisoners would be inoculated in accordance with guidelines for vaccinating the general public and would therefore not be vaccinated at this time.
While the IPS has yet to receive any vaccines, officials hope to receive them this week.
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There are some 4,600 security prisoners inside Israel, some of them with blood on their hands.
"In a democratic country such as ours, vaccinating security prisoners before the general population has been vaccinated could spark criticism," former IPS Commissioner Orit Adato told Israel Hayom.
She said, "There will be those who wonder if those who harm state security, including murderers, deserve the right to be vaccinated before the operation has been completed among the general population.
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