Israel's coronavirus infection rate stands at 0.88% according to Health Ministry data. Of the 104,838 people who tested for the virus Monday, 866 were found to have the disease.
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There are 11,439 active cases in the country. There are 249 people in serious condition, 139 of whom are on ventilators.
Although 1,304,791 Israelis have recovered from the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8,062 have died.
On the vaccination front, 3,915,254 Israelis have received all three available doses of the coronavirus vaccine. While 5,718,253 have received two doses, 6,222,551 have received at least one jab.
With the US Food & Drug Administration set to deliberate approval of Pfizer's vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 Tuesday, a new survey of 680 parents to children aged 5 to 11 by Israel's Meuhedet healthcare provider has found around half plan to vaccinate their children.
Among those parents polled, 48% said they planned to vaccinate their children. Twenty-three percent said they would refuse to vaccinate their kids, while 29% said they were either considering or leaning against vaccination.
Sixty percent of parents surveyed said studies on the safety and side effects of the vaccines were helpful in helping them reach a decision.
Among those who said they would not vaccinate their children, 37% said they were concerned by possible damage to their children's health down the line, while 18% said there was insufficient information on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Eleven percent said they did not want their children to be among the first to get the jab, while 7% said they preferred their children to contract the virus naturally.
Just 2% of those surveyed who said they would not vaccinate their children described themselves as against the vaccine in principle.
The survey found that 60% of vaccinated parents planned to vaccinate their children. Unsurprisingly, 100% of unvaccinated parents said they would not vaccinate.
Mali Kusha, chief nursing officer at Meuhedet and the woman who led the research effort, said: "It is precisely now when morbidity is not high that it is important to move to vaccinate children to prevent or diminish as much as possible the next wave. That is why we wanted to understand what the barriers were to parents who were still debating or had decided not to vaccinate and try to reach them and explain the importance of the vaccine."
She said, "Thirty-six percent of parents said they would consult with their pediatrician, and 23% said they were waiting to see and read articles on the vaccination of children. Therefore, we have no doubt a widespread campaign through the media and pediatricians who have direct and ongoing ties with the families [is necessary]."
Meanwhile, Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash told Army Radio he believed the ministry would be more transparent in its decision-making process when it came to authorizing the vaccine for children.
"I believe the process will be more transparent this time. At least some of the deliberations will be broadcast on the internet. We don't want there to be irrelevant influences on the discussion as it is public," he explained.
In an earlier interview with Tel Aviv-based 103FM Radio, the head of Public Health Services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Elroy Preiss said: "I don't think we'll start vaccinating children in Israel in a week and a half. I think serious discussions will be held. We want to present all of the information to the scientific community in Israel, share it with the public, and explain the vaccine in the near future – during the month of November."
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