In a move that some may see as controversial, United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer has instructed the chapter heads of all regions in Israel, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, both secular and religious, to make sure that all of the volunteers under their jurisdiction have received the Coronavirus vaccine, or are recovering patients, by March 7th. Should a volunteer decide not to receive the vaccine, they will be suspended from all duties, and after a grace period, removed from the organization altogether.
“I don’t see this as controversial,” said Beer. “I see it as our duty in saving lives. As medical personnel and first responders, we are at risk, and we can endanger others if we aren’t vaccinated. We’ve had a number of volunteers in the past contract the virus because they responded to an emergency prior to the vaccines being available and in spite of the precautions they took. I don’t want any of our volunteers getting sick, or their families getting sick. G-d forbid I don’t want any of our volunteers passing the virus on to a patient either,” Beer explained.
To date, nearly 90 percent of the 6,000 plus volunteers who make up the organization have already received at least the first vaccine. According to the new policy, those who have a legitimate medical reason why they will not be receiving the vaccine, such as pregnant women in their first trimester, will need to submit a request to the organization’s medical department requesting a special exemption for the time being. Upon receiving the temporary exemption, they will then only be allowed to respond to some of the medical emergencies, where the risk of contracting the coronavirus is low.
In addition to making sure that all of its volunteers have been vaccinated, United Hatzalah, in partnership with the Claims Conference, has taken upon itself the task of making sure that all homebound Holocaust survivors throughout the country have the ability and opportunity to be vaccinated as well.
“Volunteers who do not have the vaccine, will not be allowed to respond to any respiratory emergencies, any emergency where someone in the home is in isolation or sick with the disease, or any emergency involving a fever, as well as others. I myself have already received both vaccines even though I already had the virus. I’ve personally experienced what this virus can do to someone and how terrible it is. The damage that can be caused by an unvaccinated person passing on the virus is unfathomable, and I don’t want our volunteers to be responsible for that,” Beer concluded.
Let’s say someone takes the vaccine because of this policy and gets sick or god forbid dies. Will the organization take responsibility? I am not against the vaccine on any level but I do find some hypocrisy in that they will force everyone to take it but not take responsibility if something bad happens. Same goes for the manufactures (Who cannot be sure) and governments.
People are not dying from the vaccine, they are dying from
Covid. I don’t believe Hatzolah has anything to worry about when encouraging their volunteers to get the vaccine. They will not die! I can’t believe people are still spreading this false propaganda.
The commenter above you didn’t say that people _are_ dying from the vaccine, but that they _might_. What makes you so certain that this won’t be the case?
Everyone has a choice whether or not to take the vaccine.
A volunteer organization can insist that to be a volunteer, one needs to take the vaccine.
Volunteers have a choice to take the vaccine or leave.
Hatzlolah / Governments are not forcing people to take it, – they are encouraging people to take it to save lives.
Wow! Israe is first yet again! What a kiddush hashem. Hashem eyes are always on Eretz Yisroel!!
What if they already have antibodies what’s the point?
We don’t know how long protection from antibodies will last.
The medical advice is clear across the board, – get the vaccine if you’re offered it.
It says those who have the vaccine ”or are recovering patients”.
The amount of antibodies you get from the vaccine is THOUSANDS of times higher than what your body produces after recovering from covid.
The right thing to do!
For some people quite quickly. My friend had the virus 3 months ago with a positive pcr she just got it again. She checked her antibodies a few weeks ago she didn’t have any.
Very smart move from Hatzalah.
If someone doesn’t want to take it they can look for another profession…no one forcing them…
It seems that people who had it- whether or not they still show antibodies – are rarely, if at all, a source for passing it on.
Things that are really good, no one needs to threaten anyone that they will be suspended if they don’t take it.
Thankfully Hatzalah of NY is smarter than that, and doesn’t try to use such arm twisting coersion methods.
The US is far behind Israel in the vaccine rollout.
Once the vaccine is readily available, I truly hope Hatzolah of NY does the responsible thing and only accepts volunteers who are vaccinated.
It’s hard to imagine that volunteers who dedicate their lives to helping save lives would put others at risk by not taking the vaccine, – so hopefully, it’s a moot point.