Health minister says people calling him ‘Mengele’ for push to vaccinate public

25 November 2020, 4:19 pm

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Health Minister Yuli Edelstein laments being compared to Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who experimented on humans, for his push to vaccinate the population from coronavirus.

Some have accused Edelstein of planning to seek legislation to force people to vaccinate, a notion the minister has denied.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein holds a press conference during a visit at the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, on July 15, 2020 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“I’m being called Dr. Mengele, the damnable Nazi murderer, because my office is securing vaccines for the entire public. Being vaccinated is not an obligation. It wasn’t and will not be. To be vaccinated is a right. It is my duty as health minister to ensure vaccines… that will be enough for all Israelis.

“Vaccinate if you want, don’t vaccinate if you don’t.”