Israel requires Covid-19 tests for children aged 3 and up

JERUSALEM – Israel is to require Covid-19 tests from next week for children as young as 3 to enter schools, swimming pools, hotels or gyms as infections surge despite extensive adult vaccinations.

The country already requires children aged 12 and over to show a Green Pass reintroduced late last month stating a person’s vaccination and testing status, and whether they have recovered from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said from next Wednesday, the state will fund unlimited tests for children aged 3 to 11.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said it has opened 120 rapid antigen testing centres nationwide.

Screening at these stations costs 52 shekels (RM85) and allows those tested to obtain a Green Pass valid for 24 hours.

Late yesterday, Bennett in a statement announced that Israel is also lowering the age limit for its campaign of booster vaccinations from 60 to 50.

“The campaign to vaccinate the population aged 60 and over is a great success... It is an important step in the fight against the Delta variant, and I now call on everyone over the age of 50 to come line up tomorrow morning (today) to get vaccinated.”

The booster shots offered by Israel and some other countries have drawn criticism from the World Health Organisation, which said the global priority should be providing the standard inoculation to all. 

Israel has also announced mandatory quarantine for travellers, vaccinated or not, arriving from most countries of the world beginning Monday.

A country of nine million people, the Jewish state was one of the first to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign last December, thanks to an agreement with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. 

The deal gave Israel quick access to millions of shots in exchange for medical data on the vaccine’s effects. 

The campaign saw infection rates plummet, allowing Israel to resume an almost normal routine, with schools, bars and concert venues open.

However, the more contagious Delta has driven a rise in cases to levels not seen since February.

The Health Ministry yesterday said it recorded 5,946 new infections the previous day. 

In total, it has counted 921,083 cases and 6,593 deaths since the pandemic started early last year. – AFP, August 13, 2021