Israeli mayor orders vaccination centers in schools, defying education minister

29 July 2021, 9:18 pm

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Illustrative: Israeli high school students. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

The mayor of Bat Yam, Tzvika Brot, is openly defying Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton, and saying he has ordered municipal education officials to prepare to give COVID-19 vaccine shots at high schools when the school year begins, Channel 13 news reports.

The move comes a day after Shasha-Biton said in an interview with Channel 12 news that vaccinating kids in school is “a crime.”

“Anyone who can, go out and get vaccinated,” she said, but added: “But doing so at school is a crime in my opinion.”

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton at a handover ceremony at the Education Ministry in Jerusalem, on June 14, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Brot’s order is reportedly aimed at increasing vaccination rates among young people in the central Israel city, which currently stands at just 20 percent.

In institutions where parents object, the vaccination center will be next to the school.