Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said this morning that almost 3 million Israelis have received their second coronavirus vaccine and 4.377 million Israelis have received at least one vaccine dose. With that, Israel has administered the most coronavirus vaccine doses per capita in the world. Thus, tiny Israel leads the world with its successful coronavirus vaccination efforts. The international press has turned Israel into a major focus of its attention, worthy of study because of its comprehensive program. Data and experience accumulated by Israel could serve as a future reference for vaccination programs elsewhere.

Still, a detailed look into the nationwide vaccination drive shows disparities between cities and sectors. The 10 leading localities with the highest vaccination rates are all affluent Jewish-secular towns. Jewish-Arab mixed cities such as Ramle and Lod show 50% to 25% vaccination rates only. Arab towns and villages show even lower rates. In fact, the Health Ministry reported last week that 23% of Israeli-Arabs had received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 33% of ultra-Orthodox Jews and 49% of other Jewish Israelis. These numbers are better than the ones registered at the beginning of the vaccination drive, but obviously not enough.

This week, the government announced that life in Israel would be “getting back to normal.” Malls, shops, gyms, swimming pools, cultural events, hotels and other venues would all be reopening in accordance with government guidelines. So, for example, some of these, such as cultural venues and exhibitions, would be accessible only to vaccinated visitors or to visitors recovering from the virus and who are believed to be immune to it.

And yet, despite the good news about the way the vaccination program has been handled, there have been more than enough failures in the way the virus has been handled. In many cases, Israelis felt that the decision-making process had been politicized, as evidenced by the selective enforcement of regulations and discrimination in the fines imposed for violating those rules. These sentiments prevail mostly within Arab localities, and for a reason.