Israel to bar unvaccinated people from some jobs, says health minister

Israel’s health minister has confirmed the country plans to stop unvaccinated people from working in certain jobs but failed to elaborate on what they might be, adding anyone found forging vaccine certificates will be jailed.

“There will soon be jobs where, in order to work, the workers will have to either be vaccinated or undergo a Covid-19 test every 48 hours,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Thursday. 

Flanked by senior Ministry of Health officials, Edelstein did not elaborate on which jobs people would be excluded from, but he urged everyone to get vaccinated in order to help bring life back to “almost normal.”

“[The] vaccinated and those people who have had the virus will be able to go to gyms, concerts, hotels, synagogues from Sunday,” the minister stated, as he discussed the impact of Israel’s ‘green pass’ system which comes into force on February 21. 

The pass, which will be granted to those who have taken the jab and those who are recovering from Covid-19, will allow many Israelis to take advantage of a Covid-19 restrictions rollback which also takes effect on Sunday. 

Edelstein said that authorities had already confiscated a number of fake vaccination documents and warned that anyone found forging vaccine certificates would face jail time. 

Israel is leading the world in vaccinations, with almost seven million jabs administered – the equivalent of 79 doses per 100 people. The nation has also seen falling Coivd-19 deaths, reporting zero fatalities in an observation of 523,000 people who were fully vaccinated. 

If you like this story, share it with a friend!