The report released by the Ministry of Health highlights several issues with the vaccination campaign, including discrepancies in vaccination rates among different demographic groups and shortcomings in the computerized systems used to capture critical information from reports of side effects. While the majority of reports received by the Ministry were regarding minor side effects, there were also significant effects that warranted investigation, including menstrual disorders among women and side effects among individuals over the age of 12 who received the vaccine.
The report also notes that initially, there was a sharp increase in the number of people receiving two doses of the vaccine in Israel. However, by the end of November 2022, the vaccination rate had moderated, with fewer people opting for the third dose compared to the initial two doses. The audit revealed that while all 33,000 reports received from the general public regarding side effects in 2021 were processed and analyzed by the Ministry, it did not investigate all cases thoroughly due to a lack of critical information captured by its computerized systems.
In response to these findings, the Ministry defended its handling of the epidemic and emphasized its efforts to address reports of side effects in real-time and improve reporting processes. Despite challenges faced during implementation campaigns in schools and processing reports from various sources, including hospitals and clinics, the Ministry expressed pride in its vaccination campaign’s success and continued efforts to protect public health.
