In Israel, around 310k eligible over-50s haven't received a Covid vaccine. Of these, just over half (155k) are either Arab or Haredi.
118k Israeli Arabs over the age of 50 haven't been vaccinated, out of a total of 290k (41%). 37k Haredi Jews over 50 also haven't, out of 116k (32%).
For comparison, just 6.3% of the rest of the population of over-50s is unvaccinated.
Accounting for recovered Covid patients, who are considered 'immune' and are not eligible for vaccination, the *true* vaccination rate among over-50s in both communities is around 50%, vs 89% in the general population.
The vaccine is free, easy to access in community clinics and there are campaigns to convince Arab and Haredi communities to get the shot. But these campaigns are struggling.
Convincing minority communities to get vaccinated will be a challenge for every country's vaccination programme. Israel's just seeing it first.
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Some of the QAnon groups on Telegram are very big, but the members have some doubts. Here's an 2017 Q drop posted just now to a group with 180,000 members. I assume the poster wanted everyone to be reassured by the last line about "zero risk of impeachment". But...
People in the group don't understand. What's the relevance of some 2017 post about Jeff Sessions? Q believers try to get the discussion back on track. "future proves past... ask around". But some of the people are frustrated.
This 180k member QAnon group, with , is full of people who don't believe in QAnon. Hardcore Trumpers who joined for the community.
"I like trump i think what they're doing to him is disgusting and shameful!! But all these predictions make me feel like im listening to miss Cleo"
Israel is perhaps the first country to see significant vaccine hesitancy, despite vaccines being free and trivial to access to all over-16s. Telling people that they're protecting others could be a strong tool to encourage younger people to get jabbed.
The people who aren't getting vaccinated are not, on the whole, anti-vaxxers. They're just not sure it's worth it to take the time, or they don't want the side effects, or they'll get it at some point but they're busy right now.
Israel actually does incentivise vaccination. Vaccinated people are exempt from self-isolation when exposed to a Covid case, and may eventually be allowed to go to large gatherings closed to the unvavxed. But those benefits seem a long way away when nothing's open.
It seems that Facebook took down a Gaza-UAE network of fake accounts and pages that was boosting Muhammad Dahlan and UAE interests while attacking Mahmoud Abbas and the UAE's regional rivals.
The network also impersonated think tank and news websites in the UK and Israel, including popular Israeli news rumour site @RotterNet
It was actually a fairly large network, and even spend a little money on ads. Full report from Facebook here: about.fb.com/wp-content/upl…
Local media report a shooting attack on a health clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota. Reports of bombs used by the attacker.
AP reports multiple casulaties, one person in custody but unclear if the apprehended person is the shooter. Some media reported explosives were used but other reports haven't mentioned it. apnews.com/article/shooti…
We don't know if the attack is linked to Covid denial or antivax sentiment. Let's wait before jumping on speculative motives.
Positive vaccine news! An initial statistical analysis estimates that vaccinated people who do test positive for the coronavirus in PCR are likely to be LESS infectious. @erlichya's team estimate these people have 1.6x to 20x lower viral load than unvaccinated people.
A key QAnon concept is that tweets or comments from public figures are often "comms", secret messages to the QAnon faithful that point to specific Q drops or carry other hidden meanings.
They used to be obsessed with Chuck Grassley's erratic tweeting style. Now they look for Q 'comms' from Pompeo, Giuliani, Pascale or even, yup, Hillary Clinton!
Now, why would QAnon believers think that Hillary Clinton, their nemesis, is sending Q comms? That's easy. They think the military secretly controls her Twitter account, or that she might be in jail or executed.
Or maybe Q is a time traveller. This theory is common too.