Government walks back demand for vaccine bracelets at malls

15 December 2021, 5:59 pm

Edit

People shop at the Givatayim shopping mall, on February 21, 2021, after it reopened following a few weeks of lockdown. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The Health Ministry says it will cancel an earlier demand that only shoppers vaccinated against COVID will be given bracelets granting them access to all stores at the entrance to malls.

The original plan was to tighten COVID restrictions in commerce by allowing only those who are fully vaccinated with a booster to enter non-essential shops in malls. Everyone entering malls would be checked, and only those with a “Green Pass” would be handed a bracelet that would allow them to enter all shops, while those without a bracelet would only be granted access to essential stores like supermarkets and pharmacies.

But after an outcry over the plan, the ministry says it is walking back that plan, although it was not clear the alternative.