Israel's health maintenance organizations plan to launch a COVID-19 vaccinations campaign for children 5 and younger next week, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.
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The Health Ministry has determined that the vaccinations available are safe to administer to young children, stressing that children, toddlers, and babies that are at high risk of developing complications from the coronavirus due to pre-existing medical conditions should be vaccinated.
Parents inoculating young children will be able to choose between Moderna and Pfizer shots, the ministry said.
Still, HMOs expect low turnout over parents' concerns about the vaccines. Data shows that only about 25% of Israeli children ages 5-11 have been vaccinated so far, both over the public's fatigue with the issue and the fact that young children usually do not suffer from severe coronavirus symptoms.
Chief Medical Director of Leumit Health Services Professor Shlomo Vinker, said that HMOs would find offering both vaccines "logistically challenging," but stressed that "we will know who should be vaccinated and we'll contact the parents. It stands to reason that we won't see a high turnout, though. If they [parents] didn't vaccinate older children at a high rate, it's safe to assume the same will be true of babies."
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