According to Health Minister Ya’akov Ben-Yizri, 286 of 295 cases of measles in the Jerusalem region were members of the Hareidi-religious public in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and a few in Beitar Illit.
Ben-Yizri lamented that large segments of the public refuse to get immunizations against measles and other diseases.
Some of those who refuse to get the immunizations do so for religious reasons and others are concerned with Israel’s continued use of mercury-containing preservatives such as thimerosal in the vaccines offered by the Health Ministry.