The Ministry of Health is facing a polio vaccination campaign, in which almost every child aged 17-9 will be called upon to complete a vaccine.
The operation is expected to cover about 2 million children and be no less challenging than the corona vaccine operation in children.
A national operation is expected to begin next week, and in recent weeks vaccinations have already been completed in Jerusalem.
Last night, a webinar was held, headed by Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, head of the public health services, for the pediatricians and the health funds in preparation for the operation in question.
One of the significant challenges will be to bring the children and their parents to clinics and breastfeeding clinics, after the response to the Corona vaccine at the age of 11-5 was low and stood at only about 25%, and due to dealing with "vaccine fatigue" in public and medical staff.
Another complexity stems from the fact that the Ministry of Health wants to give each child exactly the vaccine dose he is missing and from the fact that different yearbooks have been vaccinated differently, so that an individual test will be required for each child.
Another major complexity is due to the fact that polio vaccines are given by various providers - some in a milk drop or in the health funds, some in the framework of student health services (second grade), and there is no uniform information system for all bodies.
Who will need to complete a vaccine?
17-9 year olds (born 2005-2013) who received only one dose in drops will be called to receive at least one supplement (it is estimated that about 90% will need supplementation), and children up to age 8 (born 2014 onwards) who have not yet received two doses of attenuated live vaccine .
The live attenuated vaccine in drops is given only to those who have received at least two doses of killed vaccine, so in these groups these vaccines will be supplemented.
Polio vaccine,
The current vaccination program in Israel includes 4 doses of killed polio vaccine by injection up to one year of age, and a booster dose in second grade and two doses in drops.
Two vaccine-killed vaccine doses provide 90% protection against paralysis, and those who received all the doses are completely protected from symptomatic disease.
However, a child who is not vaccinated with the attenuated animal vaccine can still carry the virus in the gut and spread it to the environment.
Dr. Lior Hecht-Sagi, Public Health Headquarters at the Ministry of Health: "In the operation to complete the vaccines, we look specifically at each yearbook and each child.
"Every year is different, and more than 2.5 million children need to be vaccinated."
Vaccine in Mea Shearim
Meanwhile, Ilana Gens from the Ministry of Health told the Knesset channel yesterday that close to 100% of the children were vaccinated against polio in the Mea Shearim neighborhood.
This is a significant achievement in the neighborhood, where they strongly refuse to cooperate with the authorities, and some of its residents even identify as Palestinians - and not as Israelis.
99% of the children were vaccinated in breastfeeding clinics, and only one percent were vaccinated through the funds.
Hanan Greenwood participated in the preparation of the article
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