Tel Aviv [Israel]: Nachman Ash, director-general of the Israeli health ministry, on Sunday approved the expert panel’s recommendation to start COVID-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11. According to a statement issued by the ministry, the recommendation approved by Ash was made on Wednesday by the ministry’s vaccination advisory committee and pandemic response team. The starting date of the vaccination for this age group will be determined in the coming days, the ministry statement said. “Most experts believed that the level of benefit in administering the vaccine at these ages outweighed the risk involved,” Ash noted. Earlier in the day, Israel’s national coronavirus czar Salman Zarka told the state-owned Kan Radio that vaccine doses for children will arrive in Israel this week. Today, the minimum eligibility age for receiving the vaccine in Israel is 12, having been gradually lowered from 65 since the start of the general vaccination campaign in the country on December 20, 2020.
