Israel’s Dilemma: Can the Unvaccinated Return to Workplaces?
Voice of America
JERUSALEM - After spending much of the past year in lockdown, Tel Aviv makeup artist Artyom Kavnatsky was ready to get back to work. But when he showed up for a recent photo shoot, his employer turned him away. The reason? He had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“He didn’t take me because I didn’t get vaccinated,” Kavnatsky said. “It’s discrimination, and it’s not all right.” The breakneck pace of Israel’s vaccination drive has made it one of the few countries able to return to much of its pre-pandemic routine. Bars and businesses, hotels and health clubs have all sprung back to life in Israel, where some 80% of the adult population is fully vaccinated and new infections and COVID-19 deaths have plummeted. While Israel provides a glimpse of what may be possible with high immunization rates, it also offers insight into the problems that lie ahead: Workplaces and schools are now grappling with what to do with those who refuse to get vaccinated as the next phase in the pandemic again pits public health concerns against individual rights and possibly new questions of equity. One case has already ended up in court, and others are expected to.FILE - U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 14, 2017. FILE - A migrant from China identifies himself to a U.S. Border Patrol agent after surrendering with a group that was smuggled across the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Fronton, Texas, April 4, 2023.
FILE - A customer makes a sports bet at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City N.J. on March 17, 2022 just before the March Madness NCAA college basketball tournament began. FILE - Fox Sports broadcaster Greg Olsen retrieves his receipt after placing the first ceremonial bet in North Carolina during a DraftKings event celebrating the launch of mobile and online sports wagering, March 11, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C.
This undated photo shows a mouse feeding on the head of a wandering albatross chick on Marion Island, South Africa. Mice are breeding out of control because of climate change, eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve. (Stefan and Janine Schoombie via AP) This undated photo shows two wandering albatrosses on Marion Island, part of the Prince Edwards Islands, a South African territory in the southern Indian Ocean near Antarctica. (Anton Wolfaardt via AP) This undated photo shows a house mouse on Marion Island, South Africa. (Stefan and Janine Schoombie via AP) This undated photo shows a research base on Marion Island, South Africa. (Anton Wolfaardt via AP)