Senior Health Department officials closely followed the afternoon discussion of the Advisory Committee of Experts of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the issue of childhood vaccines, until it was possible towards midnight with a majority of 17 supporters in front of one abstainer.
Following the decision, an expert discussion is expected in Israel on the possibility of vaccinating 1.237 million children in this age range in Israel.
What are the schedules and how will the discussion be conducted?
A date has not yet been set for the discussion, but it is expected to take place as early as next week.
Only then, and as long as the Director General of the Ministry of Health adopts the recommendations, and after the arrival of vaccines in a dose adapted for children (one third of the dose for adults), will the vaccination campaign begin. This may be towards the end of November.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education had no answers yesterday regarding how students will be vaccinated. However, when the decision is made - it is likely to be the big headache of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. When the children's vaccines arrive in Israel, it is likely that the desire will be to do them in schools, which will be more effective in the eyes of many. The Ministry of Health will have to provide the vaccines (using vehicles that will keep them refrigerated), as well as the storage staffs. As far as the Ministry of Education is concerned, it will have to deal with the bureaucratic issue of parental approvals.
It is likely that this time too the teachers will refuse to be part of the vaccination process - and those who will manage the procedure will be the corona trustees recruited to engage in bureaucracy.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha Bitton has already said that with regard to children's vaccines, she will align with the government's decision, contrary to her opinion regarding the issue of adolescent vaccines in schools.
According to estimates, these are all elementary students, grades 1-6, along with compulsory kindergarten students (5) and 7th grade who have not yet turned 12. One of the issues will be who will be vaccinated first - are students in schools in areas of social and geographical periphery, where the immunization rate Low, or in cities where the rate of vaccinating is actually high - to show great responsiveness.
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Discussion
The teachers' union said that "the children's vaccines, as well as all corona treatment, are the responsibility of the corona trustee as decided in the corona cabinet."
As will be recalled, as published in "Israel Today", part of the team experts' discussion of the epidemic will be conducted in public, will be broadcast online and will be open to the public.
The part that will be aired to the public will likely include Pfizer presentations on pediatric research data and a presentation by the Pediatricians Association on the extent of coronary heart disease in children, severe cases and complications.
After the public presentations there will be time for questions from the public.
"The idea is to make some of the discussions accessible to the public," a senior health ministry official said.
We will make sure there is representation for all kinds of speakers.
We are still working on a way to do that. "
He added that "after the epidemic treatment team members hear the open discussion and get the professional material and after hearing the questions and opinions that arise in public, they will have a night to sleep on it and then there will be an internal professional discussion and a vote that will be confidential. "As close as possible to the vote, and we will also explain the main reasons for the decision. We may also sit down and explain in a focused manner the decision to bodies such as medical staff and journalists."
The conduct in recent days in the health system is that it is only a matter of time before the vaccination campaign begins, and apparently the decision was signed.
Members of the epidemic treatment team also said today that they once again feel like a rubber stamp, and that this is a political decision.
However, the senior official in the Ministry of Health emphasizes that "the committee can make any recommendation. We are not a decision-making body but an eclectic body with representatives from all sorts of places. The decision-makers are the Ministry of Health, the Minister of Health and the government. To recommend one thing and another decision will be made. "
1.7% of U.S. mortality
At the FDA hearing last night, data were presented on the extent of morbidity and hospitalizations for coronary heart disease among children in the United States. At the same time, there were 5,217 cases of post-coronary syndrome (PIMS) in children and adolescents, 39% of them aged 11-5.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health in Israel and the Association of Pediatricians do not have accurate data on the extent of the disease.
There are about 1.237 million children aged 11-5, of whom 213,047 are recovering from Corona.
There are also not a number of PIMS cases, but it is estimated that there are about 150.
Furthermore, the dashboard data of the ministry referring to ages 9-0 and 19-10 show that at ages 9-0 there were 92 cases of children hospitalized in critical condition from Corona, and at ages 19-10 there were 100 cases of children hospitalized in critical condition, and there were about 11 deaths of children and adolescents aged 19-10.
HMOs have already begun preparing for the vaccination campaign.
"We have a wide infrastructure of hundreds of places where corona vaccines are given," said Ruth Baruch, director of the Corona Vaccine Operations and head of the nursing division at Clalit's community division.
"Vaccines are given in separate positions for children, and the possibility of vaccination is opened in the child's health centers, where a large number of children come. Children need a different attitude, a more attentive staff that will address concerns and fears."
Noam (Devol) Dvir participated in the preparation of the news about an immune complex
