Israel allows COVID vaccine for children under five

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign continues amid talks of a fourth dose for high-risk groups including those over the age of 60, in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli Health Ministry on Wednesday gave the green light for the vaccination of children between the ages of 6 months to five years against COVID-19.

The Health Ministry said the vaccine was particularly recommended for those who were at high risk due to a chronic illness or medical treatment that weaken their immune system.

Israel is seeing a rise in coronavirus cases in recent weeks but has refrained from reimposing any curbs on large gatherings or mandating face masks that were scrapped in April after its largest wave of infections thus far had peaked in January.

Around half of Israel's 9.4 million population has received three doses of Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE's COVID vaccine and around 830,000 have taken a fourth.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Bernadette Baum)