Israel Approves COVID Boosters for At-risk Children Aged 5-11

Israeli children aged 5-11 at risk of developing serious symptoms from coronavirus will now be able to get a vaccine booster shot, after the Health Ministry told the country's health maintenance organizations to begin rolling out the third dose.

The decision applies only to 163 at-risk children in the country.

Dr. Emilia Anis, director of the ministry's epidemiology department, sent a letter with the instruction to begin giving booster to this group, which began receiving their first and second shots before other children in the same age group. Anis wrote that the booster should be given to the children three months after their second shot.

In July, the Health Ministry began allowing the vaccination of kids aged 5-11 with serious underlying health problems, including extreme obesity, serious chronic lung conditions, a highly compromised immune system, neurodevelopmental disorders, and congestive heart failure. At that point, vaccinations for members of this group had to be approved individually. The ministry emphasized that its policy was to restrict approval to those with a maximum level of risk of serious illness.

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Approval for vaccinating all children aged 5-11 was given on November 10, meaning that this group is still at least a month away from being able to get a booster – if it is approved at all.