Both undertakers and rabbis promote vaccination

In Germany, Lutheran pastors offer vaccines against covid-19 in churches. In Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, skeptical of science, prominent rabbis are trying to influence citizens to change their minds. And in South Africa, undertakers are taking to the streets to announce that they are burying too many people.

A year after a Covid vaccine became available, traditional campaigns by health officials are often ignored, so unconventional groups of people have joined the effort, writes the Associated Press agency.

They open sanctuaries and go door-to-door and village-to-village, promoting the benefits of vaccines and sometimes offering them on the spot.

As the epidemic enters its third year, and the number of victims in the world has exceeded 5,4 million, vaccine promoters are faced with fear, mistrust, complacency, inconvenience and people who simply have bigger problems than covid-19, points out AP.

One day in December, a convoy of hearses drove up to the Soweto neighborhood in Johannesburg with sirens wailing.

"Get vaccinated, get vaccinated!" said Vujo Mabindisi from "Vujo" Funeral Service while handing out leaflets on how to avoid covid-19. “We don't want to see you coming to our service. "A few people were curious and asked questions, while others continued shopping.

South Africa, with a population of 60 million, has reported more than three million cases of Covid-90.000, including more than 40 deaths. These are the highest figures in Africa. Only about XNUMX percent of South Africa's adult population has received two doses of the vaccine, one of the best rates on the continent, according to the AP. After a troubled start, there are now enough vaccines.

Tabo Tefo, a 32-year-old bank employee, was among those who recently came to a church in Soweto to get vaccinated. He told AP that he was skeptical, but that he was pressured by his parents and two vaccinated sisters, and recently had health problems that turned out to be unrelated to covid-19.

"It encouraged me to get vaccinated for my own peace of mind and to protect my family," Tefo said.

Rupali Limaje, a behavioral scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Health who studies global vaccine skepticism, says community-level initiatives can have a better effect than impersonal mass media campaigns.

German pastor Kristof Herbst believes that vaccinating in an environment where people feel more comfortable than in a medical environment can be helpful. That's why he and several Lutheran pastors in the Saxony region contacted a humanitarian group to offer vaccines in their churches despite the momentarily violent protests of anti-vaxxers in recent weeks. AP writes that some pastors have been criticized and even threatened.

"We believe that we have a responsibility that goes beyond ourselves. We are not doctors and we are not professionals. But we have space and volunteers who can organize something like that," said Herbst from St. Peter's Church in the eastern city of Kemnitz. He recently opened the church door and was relieved to see a long line of people waiting in the cold to get vaccinated.

Pensioner Hanelore Hilber and her husband came to receive their third dose before the holidays.

"Christmas last year was really sad. We were completely alone," 70-year-old Hilbert, who was looking forward to spending the holidays with at least some of his five grandchildren, told the AP. Last year he only saw them through Skype.

The AP reports that vaccines produced in the West have proven to be extremely safe and effective in both preventing Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations, and that experts say that appears to be the case even amid the spread of the highly infectious omicron strain.

Health authorities warn that low vaccination rates give the virus a greater chance to mutate into new strains.

Saxony has the lowest vaccination rate and the highest number of covid-infected people.

Herbst said many vaccination opponents are concerned about possible side effects, feel they are under too much pressure from the government or are bothered by any government-backed measures. Some feel they have been discriminated against as citizens of East Germany because not all their hopes have been fulfilled 30 years after the fall of communism.

"It's important that we have a space where we can hear each other without immediately jumping to judgment," said Herbst.

Caesar Thompson, a community activist in Chicago, is taking the same approach as he knocks on doors in a black neighborhood hit hard by the virus.

Thompson, 44, is a "vaccine ambassador" registered with the city's health authorities. He claims that the goal is not to persuade or coerce people. Instead, he says he offers information, answers questions and lets people know they can get the shots at home or at a nearby facility.

Thompson has a knack for words, and he's used that gift in churches, train stations, flea markets—just about anywhere a crowd gathers. He says that the fact that he is "an ordinary guy from the neighborhood" also helps him. "You'd probably know me if you lived in my neighborhood."

In the communities he visits, the coronavirus is often not the most pressing issue. For people living in crime-ridden neighborhoods, where there are no jobs or health insurance and where people are struggling to feed their families, "Covid is low on their priority list," Thompson told the AP.

In conservative Wyoming, it's hard to get people to get vaccinated. Local officials in Campbell County voted against spending money from the federal budget for a vaccine education campaign, worrying that it would act as a mandate. The vaccination rate in that district is about 27 percent.

Gabi Watson (23), from Gillette, says she does not intend to get vaccinated "because she is healthy and takes care of herself". "I am not exposed to a high risk of covid. I just don't see the logic in getting vaccinated".

She believes that the US government promotes vaccination too strongly.

"That way they create resistance in people and more and more of them start thinking "what on earth are you trying to do with my body? What are you trying to do with my freedom," said Watson. "It is certainly not a good direction".

Suspicion of secular authorities is strong in Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. They eschew many of the luxuries of modern life, follow a strict interpretation of Judaism, and rely on rabbis for many of life's decisions. Although some rabbis encouraged vaccination, others took a less aggressive approach.

The vaccination rate among ultra-Orthodox Jews is one of the lowest in Israel, and they have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Now, faced with Omicron, Israeli officials are "going on the offensive," said Avraham Rubinstein, the mayor of Bnei Brak, the largest ultra-Orthodox city in the country. They are deploying mobile vaccination teams and engaging prominent rabbis in the community.

Josi Levi, a 54-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew, recovered from Covid earlier this year, as did his eight children and wife. He repeatedly scheduled and canceled the vaccination against covid-19.

"It is not something urgent. I don't object. I'm just lazy," Levi said.

While the vaccination rate for the second dose among the general population in Israel is about 63 percent, and for the third dose about 45 percent, within the ultra-Orthodox community those numbers are half that.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who represent 13 percent of Israel's population, usually live in densely populated neighborhoods, with large families in small apartments, where the disease spreads quickly, AP reminds. In synagogues, which are the center of social life, men gather in a small space. Also, half of that population is under the age of 16 and they have only recently been included in the vaccination campaign.

Gilad Malah, who leads the ultra-orthodox program in a Jerusalem organization, said that there is a "double fear: fear of the state and fear of science. There is no basic trust in those structures".

In India, laxity also contributes to low rates of second-dose immunization among a population of 1,4 billion. About 40 percent were fully vaccinated, and about 19 percent received only one dose. Almost 35 million infected and about 450 deaths have been recorded in that country.

In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, Rohit Kanojia received the first dose in August but has not received the second.

"I forgot," said this 23-year-old, adding that people are no longer afraid of covid-19. People walk without masks and no one keeps social distance, he said. "Life is almost normal".

Jett Bahadur, a 45-year-old chef, received his second dose after several months at a Sikh temple in New Delhi. For him, like many others in India trying to survive in a faltering economy, the virus is simply not high on the list of priorities.

There are not enough free tests in Spain and Italy

Demand for free covid-19 tests provided by Madrid's regional government far outstripped supplies yesterday, and long lines outside pharmacies have become a common sight since the micron strain began to spread in the country.

The situation is similar in Italy, where long lines have formed in some drive-in testing centers, and numerous pharmacies report that there is a huge demand for tests while the number of infected people is increasing.

Cristina Sánchez, a pharmacist from Madrid, said she received only 20 test kits as part of the plan to increase free supplies, but that before the pharmacy opened, there were already more than 30 people waiting outside.

Since the first in line usually buy several tests, most will be left empty-handed or will buy kits for 9 euros, although they also go quickly.

Taxi driver Miguel Jesus Arroyo managed to get a free test. "You have to get up early, because everything goes by in a second".

With the arrival of omicron soy, the number of infected people increased fivefold in the last days of December compared to the beginning of the month.

Italy, another country hit hard by the pandemic, has also reported an increase in the number of infected.

Luka Zaia, the head of the north-eastern Veneto region, said he feared that there could soon be a shortage of tests and asked the government to waive mandatory testing in certain situations.

"We must not allow the collapse of the testing system," he said.

Greece reported 21 new cases of infection yesterday, which is a daily record and more than double compared to Monday when 657 new cases were reported.

"Omicron prevails, so we should be prepared and not panic," said the Greek Minister of Health, Tanos Plevris.

Restrictive measures were tightened in Greece last Sunday. Masks are mandatory outdoors, and Christmas and New Year's celebrations in public places are prohibited.