Poll Shows Vaccine Resistance Remains High

A poll of Israelis who have not yet been vaccinated shows multiple reasons for their reluctance, and that one out of four have no intention of getting a shot at all, according to a Channel 12 report on Tuesday night.

The Midgam Institute, which conducted the research for the network, found that 41% fear possible side effects, 30% are not sure about its efficacy; 27% will vaccinate soon; 10% cited information on social media and 4% said the incentives are insufficient. Respondents were allowed to give more than one answer.

The poll comes as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ and the Health Ministry are seeking various means to encourage—or coerce—people to get vaccinated. Besides daily appeals to the public, the lockdown exit starting next week will grant access to certain businesses only to those who have been vaccinated or recovered from covid. The Health Ministry is looking into allowing municipalities to have data on those who haven’t vaccinated in order to contact them and urge them to do so, though privacy concerns have been raised.

However, asked if the planned limitations on access to various activities to those who don’t vaccinate may persuade them to get the shots, 46% said no, 31% said yes and 23% said they don’t know, according to the poll.

The poll was part of a larger one which sampled Israelis’ political leanings. As in recent polls, Netanyahu’s Likud leads the pack but will have a hard time getting enough Knesset seats for a coalition.

The survey shows Likud winning 29 seats; Yesh Atid 18; New Hope 13; Yamina 10; the Joint List 9; Shas 8; UTJ 7; Yisrael Betyenu 7; Labor 6; Religious Zionism 5; Meretz 4; and Blue and White 4.

That gives the anti-Netanyahu bloc 61 seats; the Likud-led right-religious bloc with 49, plus Religious Zionism adding 5 more. If Yamina joins, it would give Netanyahu 64.