Participants in Trials for Israeli Vaccine Not Granted a Green Pass

In recent news, the Director-General of the Hadassah Medical Center, Zeev Rotstein, appealed to Benny Gantz, the Defense Minister, to grant a green pass to those specific citizens in the country, who participated in the trials for Israeli coronavirus vaccine. 

Rotstein started off his letter to Gantz by expressing that he is a proud citizen of the State of Israel. He went on to add that he has previously contributed to the country and continues to work hard to ensure its progress. According to the Director-General, however, he feels ostracized and deprived at the moment, which is shameful for the country. 

He further added that he does not want to ‘elaborate on the feeling’ that he may very well have in the upcoming weeks when he will accompany his wife to a concert and have to stay outside. Rotstein stated that he does not want to talk about how he will feel when he has to isolate himself in a coronavirus hotel after returning from a trip, while his wife goes home.

Brilife is a coronavirus vaccine candidate, which was designed and developed in the country by the Israel Institute of Biological Research. It operates under the supervision of the Defense Ministry of Israel. By late November 2020, Phase I of its trials was completed. Around 80 volunteers, who were aged between 18 and 55, were vaccinated at the Hadassah-University Medical Center, located in Jerusalem, whereas more were inoculated at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. After the trials, no significant side effects were noted or reported. 

Rostein was also one of the volunteers who received the Israeli coronavirus vaccine. He called on Gantz to make efforts right away and fix the issue. He hopes that vaccine testers will soon be able to receive the green passport otherwise, the point of volunteering in the country will be rendered useless. He added that the efforts that the Prime Minister is making to promote the development and production of the blue-and-white vaccine will also be in vain, if the situation is not immediately remedied. 

A green passport allows the citizens of the country to enter into certain places and take part in certain activities. Only people who have received the vaccination or recovered from the novel coronavirus, are granted this particular passport. 

Registered hotels, theaters, gyms, synagogues, and concerts are currently able to operate due to the fact that they possess the green card. Come Sunday, conferences, event halls, cafes, restaurants, and various attractions will also be permitted to operate with the passport. 

As of now, the clinical trials of the Israeli coronavirus vaccine are coming to an end, specifically Phase II of the trials. 

Around 350 volunteers have made registrations for the Phase II of the clinical trials, which will include 1,000 new healthy volunteers, who are aged 18 and above, along with senior citizens in the country. The point of this phase is to complete the safety precautions of the vaccine and determine its effectiveness.