The battle against vaccine hesitancy among Israel's Ultra-Orthodox

[70sEraVet]

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988812635/how-israel-persuaded-reluctant-ultra-orthodox-jews-to-get-vaccinated-against-cov

An interesting NPR article, explaining how Israel, which had a very high vaccination rate overall, worked to win over Hasidic communities which had been convinced that the vaccine would cause infertility in women.
Health officials worked to win over some of the senior Rabbis, who agreed to take part in the campaign. But there were still pockets of resistance in the communities. It took a tragedy in one community to win over the skeptics.

"Osnat Ben Sheetrit, 31, ran a wig and bridal salon for the ultra-Orthodox community and lived in the West Bank settlement neighborhood of Har Shmuel, near Jerusalem. In February, she was about to give birth to her fifth child. She remained hesitant about getting vaccinated, even after Israeli health experts and rabbis endorsed vaccines for pregnant women.

Her husband finally convinced her to make her a vaccine appointment that same month. But before she could get vaccinated, she was infected with the coronavirus and was hospitalized.

She gave birth while sick, but her newborn survived only a few hours. Shortly after the baby died, Ben Sheetrit died, too."