Scuffles broke out between security officers and members of the public at a Clalit vaccine center in northern Tel Aviv on Thursday, when dozens of people arrived without booking an appointment to receive the shot, believing they would be admitted in any event.
Other facilities around Israel also reported long lines, with some people who have made an appointment unable to receive the vaccine. Clalit is the largest of Israel's four health maintenance organizations that are currently the only bodies administering the vaccine in the country.
Daniel Ernest, who arrived at the Clalit facility in Tel Aviv after making an appointment, decided to go home after seeing the crowds.
"I arrived here because I had an appointment and they told me the exact hour to arrive. But I understand that there are people here who think they can get a shot without making an appointment," he said.
"I also saw people who brought their partner or a friend to the center being told they can also get the vaccine. So people realized they can come without an appointment and it is a total mess. I decided to go home since I will not wait in such a crowd."
Another person who waited at the Clalit center claimed he had been told to arrive without an appointment.
"I did not book an appointment, they told me I could come without one. When I got here, they told me you do have to book an appointment, and they would book it for you in a week's time. I am waiting here because I think I will be able to get the shot, at least as far as they said. I have been here for an hour and nothing is moving."
(Video: Meshi Ben-Ami, Shahar Goldstein)
Calm prevailed however at a nearby Maccabi HMO vaccination center, where there were orderly lines and those who did not have an appointment were taken aside to make one for the next available day.
Dudu Shashoa, who oversees Maccabi facilities in northern Tel Aviv, said that "we only let in people with an appointment, which could be booked through the call center or the phone app."
"People here do not have to wait for more than two or three minutes. In the past few days, we have vaccinated some 2,500 people here."
Shashoa urged anyone planning to turn up without an appointment to not do so as there would not be enough vaccine doses for them to be inoculated.