Israel begins vaccinating children aged 5-11 against COVID-19

Weeks after extending booster vaccine shots for all its population, Israel has now commenced COVID vaccination for children. According to a report by the Times of Israel, the Zionist state began the vaccination process on Monday afternoon and soon after, over 24,000 slots were booked for the next day. Notably, a mild dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (kids-sized-dose) will be used for immunisation purposes. 

Speaking in the aftermath, the country’s Coronavirus czar Salman Zarka, said that it was a celebration day for children and parents “who can not protect their children”. Furthermore, he said that the vaccination would help children in resuming their normal lives as well as facilitate their protection against respiratory infection. 

“The disease is mild [in children], but there are cases where the disease can continue with long-term symptoms such as insomnia and muscle aches,” Zarka warned. He further added, “Along with protecting children, the vaccine provides a solution to a normal and uninsulated life. It will help parents get back to normal.”

Addressing a press conference, Zarka also addressed scepticisms in parents stating that Israel was following the suit of the US, where vaccination for kids started earlier. More than three million children have been immunised against Coronavirus in America, and were “seeing effective results,” he emphasised. 

Over six million people vaccinated in Israel

According to the official data by the Israel health ministry, as many as 6,267,456  people have received the first dose of vaccines while 5,766,304 have been fully vaccinated. In addendum, 4,052,354 people have received a third, booster shot. 

_{Image: Israel Health Ministry} 

On November 3, the team belonging to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deliberated upon the same, discussing at length whether the jabs would be beneficial to all 28 million children in the country. A final recommendation from the American health body came hours after, giving a final clearance to the Pfizer/BioNTech shots.  

At an earlier press briefing, White House Coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients announced that all children belonging to the age group between 5 to 11 years will be able to receive Pfizer/BioNTech doses at paediatrician offices, medical clinics, pharmacies and community health centres. Without revealing a particular timeline for the same, he said the inoculation program would be running at full length. 

Image: AP