Renowned Israeli oncologist urges colleagues 'not to rush and vaccinate the children of Israel'
A letter today was addressed to "My brothers and sisters, doctors in the State of Israel" by Oncology Institute at Shamir Hospital (Assaf Harofeh) Director Dr. Raya Leibowitz, urging her colleagues to join a call "not to rush and vaccinate the children of Israel."
Dr. Leibowitz wrote: "In coming days, a letter from doctors will be issued urging not to rush and vaccinate the children of Israel, even if in coming weeks results from clinical studies show the vaccine safe and effective.
"The letter is already signed by dozens of physicians and therapists from all walks of clinical practice, hospitals, and the community."
She continued: "I know that many of you feel great discomfort from what has been happening here in recent weeks regarding the vaccine - a vague feeling of haste, of excessive confidence, arrogance, conformism, silence, lack of transparency..... Some of you speak out this feeling of yours; many of you keep it bottled up in the belly."
She includes an email address, doctros.letter@gmail.com, that she stresses is "for physicians only", and only for relevant messages or letter support. She asks that doctors identify themselves by full name and license number so that they can answer.
Dr. Leibowitz concluded her post: "It is important to clarify that every doctor is allowed (legally, ethically, and according to State Civil Service Regulations) to express their opinion on this issue. Alas for us if this were not possible."
Dr. Raya Leibowitz holds a Master's degree in Research from the Weizmann Institute (M.Sc.), is a graduate of the School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and holds a PhD from Tel Aviv University.
She completed an internship in oncology at Sheba Hospital and a sub-internship in Toronto in the field of male and urinary tract tumors and onco-geriatrics (treatment of cancer in the elderly). Dr. Leibowitz is a senior faculty member in the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and has extensive experience in basic and clinical research. She serves as the Israeli representative to the International Oncology-Geriatric Association and recently represented Israel at a conference to determine prostate cancer treatment policy held in Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Leibowitz has dozens of publications in the international press and she has won over a dozen competitive research grants and awards in the field of oncology, as well as a special award for "Humanity in Medicine" from the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto in Cancer and as the director of the Digital Forum for 'Custom Medicine'. Among other things, Dr. Leibowitz also serves as a volunteer consultant to the Association for the War on Cancer and as the director of the Digital Forum for 'Custom Medicine'.
Clips featuring Dr. Leibowitz (Hebrew):
