Worshipers exposed to measles outbreak in Efrat

Worshipers of Efrat’s Tiferet Avot Kehila were subjected to a patient suffering from the measles outbreak while attending prayer services Friday night.

The Health Ministry released a statement with vaccination instructions intended for the worshipers exposed over erev Shabbat. All of the instructions are directed at those born in Israel and who were vaccinated in accordance with Israeli law.

The instructions demand that everyone who was subjected to the exposure two days ago must visit a doctor on Sunday to receive the recommended shots. The statement relays instructions from those born in 1956 to those born in 2018, and stresses that these vaccinations are covered by the country’s health care system.

The measles outbreak has surfaced due to the failure of thousands of parents to vaccinate their children, particularly among the ultra-Orthodox communities in Jerusalem, according to Health Ministry officials. Community leaders and rabbis have sent mobile units to these neighborhoods to vaccinate citizens living in the affected areas.

Causing an uproar, members of the Knesset Health Committee over the past few months have said more should be done to encourage haredim to agree to be vaccinated, while quoting the Health Ministry data.

However, the Health Ministry claims that immunization rates in Israel are among the highest in the world, despite the current measles outbreak.

On average, about half of the population in these communities are not immunized. The Health Ministry requires children by the age of one year to be vaccinated for measles and other contagious diseases, however, mostly due to negligence, parents do not follow this law.

While the outbreak continues to grow, the Health Ministry will be forced to change their strategy toward these communities in the near future – implicating and administrating more successful, informative and persuasive campaigns without ignoring affected communities.