Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) on Monday morning arrived at Kafr Qassem to present the plan to increase the percentage of vaccinated individuals among the over one million who have not yet received the vaccine.
The new "vaccine mobiles," operated by the Health Ministry and Magen David Adom (MDA) will travel in the coming weeks to neighborhoods around Israel which have low coronavirus vaccination rates.
The plan is based on in-depth research by the Health Ministry, which mapped out the relevant areas by town and neighborhood, and found common denominators among those who have not yet been vaccinated.
According to the research, the influence of anti-vaccination propaganda is minimal, and the 1,080,000 unvaccinated are mostly low-income and live in the geographical and social peripheries of Israeli society.
"There is clear correlation between socioeconomic status and response to vaccines," Horowitz said. "The weaker a town is, the less the public vaccinates. This is an historical example of the essential importance in reducing gaps and taking mutual responsibility, and the dangers inherent in inequality. The social gaps harm the weak, and harm each of us. It's true for coronavirus, and it's a lesson for our behavior as a society and as a country, in all areas of life."
"I am not going to give up on this population," Horowitz said. "We will bring the vaccines into the towns, the neighborhoods, the streets, and to homes. It's not simple but in the battle against the pandemic, this could be the dealbreaker."