Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Israeli social media influencers on Thursday, teaming up with them to encourage Israeli youth to go get jabbed with the COVID-19 vaccine.
The meeting, which took place at Facebook Israel's headquarters and was organized by Israel Bidur, a celebrity gossip blog, was part of Bennett's nationwide vaccination campaign to incentivize young Israelis to get the jab.
Bennett gave a presentation to the social media stars, detailing the government's COVID vaccination plan as well as updating them on Israel's handling of the Delta variant outbreak, which has spread viciously throughout the country over the last six weeks.
The internet stars were asked to use their exposure to and influence on Israeli youth to encourage and motivate teens all across Israel to get vaccinated.
"I have two requests for you," Bennett said. "First, convince as many teens as you can to get vaccinated. Second, remind everyone to wear a mask, as that prevents infections," he asked of the young influencers.
"Your actions today could save lives. Each one of you could save between 30-40 people," Bennett told the social media stars.
Later on Thursday, Prime Minister Bennett stated in a public address that COVID can be dangerous even for young Israelis, due to the phenomenon of long-COVID, where symptoms remain for months and even years after contracting the virus. He also stated that Israelis must get vaccinated in order to avoid a lockdown during the Jewish holidays period.
In addition to the vaccination campaign of young Israelis over the age of 12, the Health Ministry announced in July that select youth under the age of 12 who were at risk of developing severe COVID-19 would also be able to get vaccinated.