Health

The push to administer Covid vaccines to every Holocaust survivor in Israel

Jerusalem, Feb 23 (efe-epa).- The United Hatzalah association is trying to ensure that no Holocaust survivor in Israeli goes without a Covid-19 jab by offering transport to members of this aging population, many of whom struggle with mobility, to centers.

One such person is Katrina Wolfensohn, an 80-year-old of Russian descent who was picked up by the service from her older people’s residence in Jerusalem and taken to get her first dose of the vaccine on Tuesday. It was administered by healthcare professionals inside the ambulance.

United Hatzalah has a list of around 20,000 Israelis who have yet to get the vaccine. Wolfensohn contracted Covid-19 after surgery and had to wait until she recovered before finally receiving the jab.

United Hatzalah and Claims Conference, a Jewish organization that represents victims of Nazi persecution, received an investment of around $4.8 million to help Israel’s Holocaust survivors get inoculated. Covid-19 claimed the lives of around 900 survivors last year.

There are an estimated 179,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel, all over the age of 75. Around 40% arrived in 1951 as part of the first large wave of immigration.

Israel is leading the world in terms of its Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Of its population of 9.2 million, almost 4.5 million have received a first dose of the vaccine and more than three million have had the second. EFE-EPA

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