AND Israel has launched a campaign for serological tests for coronavirus from the age of 3 onwards to study the development of antibodies in unvaccinated children on the eve of the new school year, reports BTA.
Despite the increase in the number of infections in the country due to the new Delta version, the Israeli government wants to avoid postponing the start of the school year, scheduled for September 1.
Israel has started vaccinating children over the age of 12, and this campaign of serological tests is aimed at children between the ages of 3 and 12. According to the Ministry of Education, these tests will allow to study the development of antibodies in these children, if they have already been infected. Children who have developed enough antibodies will not be forced to isolate themselves if they come in contact with an infected person. This will reduce the problems in schools.
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Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon is urging parents to bring their children for a free 15-minute finger prick test.
The test campaign is being conducted jointly by the Ministries of Health and Education together with the Israeli army.
A pilot program among the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community last week found that nearly one in five children had developed antibodies to COVID-19.
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Last month, Health Ministry Director General Igal Slovik said school closures last year had caused social and emotional harm to students, with the risk of suicide among them rising by 44 per cent.
In total, more than 970,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Israel, of which more than 6,700 have died.
More than 5.4 million people have received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, representing 58 percent of the population. About 1.2 million received a third booster dose.
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Israel was the first to launch a large-scale vaccination campaign in mid-December last year, which allowed the number of people infected with COVID-19 to drop dramatically.
However, the incidence of coronavirus infection has started to increase again in recent weeks with the spread of the Delta variant, especially among unvaccinated Israelis.
