It is indisputable that major league mistakes were made by the governments of both Israel and the United States in dealing with the recent 2019 – 2023 global COVID-19 pandemic.  I have previously noted here some failings in Israel’s handling of the crisis by its government leadership, healthcare establishment, and populace; you, dear reader, can certainly recite many, many more.  These missteps have resulted in extreme and broad universal distrust among the public.

It is clear that a noticeable epidemic, possibly new and novel, is now developing; its ultimate magnitude and how it will compare with the previous one remains to be seen. Israel, the United States, and plenty of other nations now need to surmount the cynical public distrust which their own blunders created, in order to successfully address the infection outbreak.

On 7 January 2026, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its “2025–2026 Flu Season” webpage, which four days previously had been dated 17 November 2025.  The page informs us that “All flu vaccines for the 2025-2026 season will be trivalent. This means they are formulated to protect against three main seasonal influenza Type A and B viruses: an A(H1N1) virus, an A(H3N2) virus, and a B/Victoria lineage virus.”  The CDC website also notes increases in seasonal influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 activity throughout the nation.  Similar forecasts are reported elsewhere in the world, including Israel. [That is correct: COVID is still here!].

In both Israel and the United States there were governmental decrees compelling the wearing of face masks during the 2019 – 2023 pandemic.  In September 2025, leading Israeli physicians strongly advocated for mask-wearing in hospitals, physicians’ offices, and nursing homes, following a trend of such calls among other nations, and the example of the Wolfson Medical Center in Israel. In December 2025, the Israel Health Ministry issued a forceful recommendation to that effect.

I noted the possibility of compulsory masking in venues beyond Israel’s healthcare sector at the time this blogpost was initially contemplated. I now increasingly view it as inevitable, what with various subsequent developments such as the report last week of a healthy 2-month-old Israeli child, who cannot be........

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