Israel govt to resume schools from Sept 1 with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination

Amid the increasing cases of COVID-19, Israel is gearing up to resume schools from next week on the grounds that it would first inoculate students with the anti-COVID vaccine. Despite the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the Israeli government has confirmed that schools will once again open on time and everybody will be vaccinated. Notably, junior class students will be vaccinated inside the school premises when the school reopens with parents' approval and the classes will commence on September 1, this year, said an official statement issued by the government. To avoid disruption in education, Israeli government officials have also said that they are looking forward to reopening the school, following COVID-appropriate measures. It must be noted that Israel once again is witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases after several months.

Israel government to resume schools from Sept 01 with mandatory vaccination

According to the government's plan, the school's reopening would include mandatory vaccination for junior class students who are younger than 12b years, and they will be asked to bring parents' approval to perform a COVID-19 test on the starting day of school. Meanwhile, students who are studying in high schools situated in cities with a high number of cases would require 70 per cent of students to be vaccinated or continue online classes. As many as 30% of children between the age group of 12–15 years have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Israel, which is marginally less compared to people of other age groups.

The Israeli education minister, Yifat Shasha-Biton earlier in July had said vaccination procedures in schools are not a good idea, as many students will only take shots due to peer pressure. However, a couple of days ago, she lauded the government's move and also urged the parents to approve the vaccination of their children, so that they continue to school.

COVID-19 situation in Israel

Coronavirus cases are once again on a spike in Israel. The health ministry data revealed that on Monday, August 23 that 6467 fresh COVID infection cases were registered in the country, among which 1172 people reported severe complications and are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. So far, the total COVID-19 cases in the country have tallied to 9,94,615 and the total number of deaths has stood at 6830. The country has so far inoculated a total of 12,708,044 people.
 

IMAGE: TWITTER/@edu_il/EducationMinistryIsreal