The coronavirus is clearly once again raising its head. Once again, we are witness to an increase in the number of daily confirmed infections, and in particular the number of seriously ill. We are also once again seeing the various professional, political, and media elements wrestling with how Israelis should behave given the spike in the infection rate as if we haven't been dealing with the very same thing for the past two years. We are once again waiting without justification for the coronavirus cabinet to tell us how to act and waiting for the media to tell us who is right and who is wrong as we wait to learn what our children's fate will be in the upcoming school year and are exposed to more and more empty talk from various officials aimed at reaching the same conclusions we have been living with for the past two years.
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These exhausting deliberations are the result first and foremost of our failure to learn anything from the process we have undergone thus far. We are fighting one another and ensuring the general population is made to feel helpless and loses its faith in the system managing Israel's fight against the virus.
Enough is enough. The time has come for the events we've experienced to inform a clear and tested method for coping with the pandemic, in particular in light of the fact that around half of the population has been vaccinated. And yes, just like with the flu vaccine, inoculation needs to happen every year anew, and there is no need to get the public panicked over it.
Ongoing, informed, and measured management is what we need, not moves to upend previous decisions just to suit the atmosphere. By now, we should be able to formulate specific protocols for allowing students to enter schools the same as we did over the last year. For example, all teachers in schools must be vaccinated, and they are the ones responsible for students' and parents' health. Likewise, if one student has been infected in a class in which a majority of students are vaccinated, the rest of the class should not be required to enter quarantine but rather take a coronavirus test.
As a professor at Tel Aviv University, I believe the same criteria can of course be implemented at all the academic institutions without exception instead of leaving college students unsure of what the upcoming semester will look like. Similarly, one can already delineate clear criteria for entry to weddings in all sectors, including in the Haredi and Arab populations, to raise awareness of vaccination and allow such events to be held without concern the government may suddenly decide to cancel them at the last minute. In the same breath, restaurants operating in accordance with the green pass should not be shuttered.
The same is also true of the problematic component of canceling flights and banning travel to "red" destinations despite all the means we have at our disposal that do not require such extreme measures. One could, for example, have encouraged passengers to get vaccinated as a condition for flying to countries Israelis are prohibited from visiting due to high infection rates instead of canceling all flights to those destinations outright. This would secure a double victory as it would increase vaccination and allow for the continuation of routine life. At the same time, Israel could significantly raise the cost of a plane ticket for those who remain unvaccinated and seat them in an isolated section of the plane so that everyone comes to the conclusion they would be better off getting vaccinated and flying instead of spending their vacation frustrated at home.
The time has come to take a deep breath and follow clear guidelines decided upon in advance on all activities so that we can deal with the pandemic on one hand and continue to live normal lives on the other. This is possible, especially in light of the fact that we have access to vaccines. The hysteria is unwarranted. All we need to do is learn from the past and advance toward a different but optimistic future.
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