By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D
JERUSALEM — Keep it simple, stupid.
KISS doesn’t prevail here, now. Or perhaps ever.
There’s one rule for school rooms. If less than 70 percent of the kids have been vaccinated one, two or three times (that’s not clear), then classes will be by Zoom.
What if one or more of the kids has been infected? Not entirely clear. Will the whole class be isolated? And for how long?
What if someone you have met has been infected? Should you be isolated, as well as the person who has been infected.And for how long? What if you’ve had two or three vaccinations?
Some of the rules have been approved by all relevant committees. Others are proposed, pending, and subject to criticism by government or medical personnel.
So what are Rules actually in force, and being complied with? Or avoided?
And what about shopping centers.There seems to be one rule for stores less than 100 square meters, and another rule for larger stores. The rules have to do with shoppers having a valid green card, indicating up to date vaccinations.
The government wanted one rule for entry into the shopping center, and another rule for entry into drug and food shopping areas. Presumably those who had rejected vaccinations could enter the shopping center if their destination was a drug or food store, but those people couldn’t go elsewhere.
A rebellion by the managers of the shopping centers seemed to have stopped that rule. Or had it?
And what about the airport? We’ve heard that foreigners are not allowed in. But maybe from some countries. And maybe the grandparents of Israelis who want to visit them.
There have been nasty comments from overseas Jews. Whose country is it? Why can’t we enter?
We’ve seen pictures of planes flying empty, or near empty. As well as many canceled flights.
And tales of people carrying forged and faked vaccination certificates. And others who do not follow the rules about isolation.
The government distributed kits to parents for home testing of kids before going to school, but then reports that a substantial incidence of those test results were not reliable. Those testing negative were, in many cases, found to be positive in response to other tests.
And lots of talk about parents, teachers, school principles, shop managers, airport personnel, and others who are not current with the rules. Or claim to know one set of rules but not others.
It’s all too complicated for us.
Americans have varying rules by states and localities. We also have variations by localities. And the different communities of ultra-Orthodox, Arabs, Bedouin of the south vary greatly in the extent of their vaccinations and compliance with one or another rule. With, apparently, minimum effort by the authorities to apply one or another regulation.
Those of us in the protected, partially confined, and pleasant situation of being old and living in senior facilities or retirement homes or retirement villages, perhaps giving up on plans to travel overseas, are being subject to mass testing. Sometimes more than once a week. There are reports of infections from some of these communities. But our own has passed through two tests of members and workers, with no infections found.
But now, in general, there’s a sharp increase in infections throughout the country, with particular attention on the Omicron variety, said to be imported from South Africa. But now pretty much spread throughout the world.
Here there are thousands of new infections reported daily. But with a low incidence of severe infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Some of our experts are predicting a continued rise in infections. Some of them are seeing in the future a decline in infections, seemingly repeating what is happening in South Africa.
So who knows? It’s a time of conflicting projections, with some experts admitting confusion, while others seem confident in their projections of a continued and greater incidence of infections.
And the rules multiply. And change. With conflicts between members of the committees charged with making decisions, issuing rules, and ruling about a fourth booster shot. For who? After how long from the previous shot?
What about those who refuse any shots? And it’s them who comprise a large incidence of those with infections, especially of the serious kind?
We ain’t keeping it simple. We’re a long way from that. Are we stupid? In part, yes.
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Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com