Holocaust Survivors Receive Coronavirus Vaccines Amid Tensions
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Hundreds of Holocaust survivors in Austria and Slovakia have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine despite concerns about possible side effects and amid mounting antisemitism.
Organizers called the vaccination-drive an acknowledgment of past suffering and a tribute to resilience 76 years after Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
More than 400 Austrian survivors, most in their 80s or 90s, were to get shots at the convention center in Vienna, Austria’s capital. Reporters noticed Wednesday that some were brought by shuttle or by ambulance, while others were accompanied by their children. The fittest among them took the subway.
In neighboring Slovakia, the Jewish community of Bratislava in Slovakia also vaccinated Holocaust survivors on Wednesday. “We’re very, very grateful that the vaccinations are taking place on this symbolic day,” said Tomas Stern, the head of the Jewish community in Bratislava.
Some 128 survivors were reportedly to receive their first shot at Bratislava’s Jewish community center on Wednesday and another 330 across Slovakia in the coming days.
While vaccinations happened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, jabs were not limited to survivors of the Shoah, Austrian officials said.
In Austria, all Jews older than 85 were eligible to receive them during the special tribute drive. Some of the 8,000 members of Vienna’s Jewish community were vaccinated in December, when residents of a Jewish nursing home got their first doses, according to organizers.
However, it comes despite questions about possible side effects and even reported vaccines’ deaths in several countries. Health authorities maintain however that approved coronavirus vaccines are safe for most people.
Holocaust survivors vaccinated Wednesday weren’t eager to talk to reporters amid reports of rising anti-Semitism. “People are afraid that they could be recognized,” said Erika Jakubovits, who organized a vaccination drive for the Jewish Community of Vienna.
“We know we’re living in a time where Anti-Semitism is rising. So people are much more careful what they do,” she added in published remarks.
More than 6 million European Jews were murdered by the Nazis during World War Two. Some 20,000 Holocaust survivors still live in the European Union, according to official Jewish estimates.
In Israel, home to many Holocaust survivors, more than 80 percent of those over age 70 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, reports said Wednesday. Because Israel’s vaccination campaign has moved so quickly, officials reportedly said there was no need to single out Holocaust survivors.
Still, about 900 Holocaust survivors died of COVID-19 in Israel last year before vaccines were available, commented The Associated Press news agency citing Israel’s national statistics office. Some 5,300 survivors were reportedly infected with the coronavirus.
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