Holocaust survivors get COVID-19 vaccine
VIENNA — Hundreds of Holocaust survivors in Austria and Slovakia got their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine Wednesday, an acknowledgment of past suffering and a tribute to resilience 76 years after Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
More than 400 Austrian survivors, most in their 80s or 90s, were expected to get shots at the convention center in Vienna. Some were brought by shuttle or by ambulance, while others were accompanied by their children. The fittest among them took the subway.
“We owe this to them,” said Erika Jakubovits, who organized the capital vaccination drive for the Jewish Community of Vienna. “They have suffered so much trauma and have felt even more insecure during this pandemic.”
Jakubovits set up the vaccination drive with support from the Austrian Health Ministry and Vienna city officials. Twelve doctors, all members of the Viennese Jewish community, volunteered to administer shots to older Jews.
While the event took place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, vaccinations were not limited to survivors of the Shoah. All Jews in the area older than 85 were eligible to receive them during the special tribute drive.
Earlier this week, the president of the European Jewish Congress, called on all countries in the European Union to ensure that Holocaust survivors have access to coronavirus vaccines as quickly as possible.
“We have a duty to survivors, to ensure that they are able to live their last years in dignity, without fear, and in the company of their loved ones,” European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor said.