The Health Ministry is officially urging adolescents aged 12 to 15 to be vaccinated, responding to an uptick in virus cases in recent days.
The ministry says a decision to recommend the expansion of the vaccination program was made after consultations with health funds, pediatric experts, and coronavirus czar Nachman Shai.
“Given the expected uptick in travels abroad, and the lifting of mask rules and Green Pass regulations, and to take every possible step to keep normal daily life as we have managed to in Israel, it is very much recommended to be vaccinated and to be protected from the variants we know about,” the ministry says in a statement.
The statement notes that 2.5 million children in the US have been vaccinated “without any special side effects,” and says it has enough evidentiary material to make the recommendation.
Despite experts claims that the rise in cases in Israel is being driven by the Delta variant, the ministry statement does not single it out, but says there are several variants at play.
It also does not issue any special instructions for youths who already had the virus, presumably meaning it recommends that they too be vaccinated.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 21, 2021
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