Israel's coronavirus cabinet after hours-long debate decided early Monday to reopen schools on September 1 as scheduled despite the surge of coronavirus in the country.
During a meeting that began on Sunday evening, ministers also voted to approve administering vaccines on school campuses to children over the age of 12, which would be subject to parental approval.
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Children with face masks in class in a school in Rehovot earlier this year
(Photo: Reuters)
According to the approved outline, parents will also be given kits to test their children at home and sign a note stating they have tested negative for the virus.
In "red cities" communities with high coronavirus infection rates, students in grades eight through 12 will be forced to study remotely unless at least 70% of the pupils are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID.
Ministers also decided to implement the Green Pass policy for all school faculty and staff, requiring them to either present proof of vaccination or recovery, or to provide a recent negative COVID test before being allowed to enter the educational facility.
According to the Education Ministry, some 37,000 teachers have yet to be inoculated.
On Sunday, Israel launched its antibody testing drive for children aged as young as three, seeking information on the number of unvaccinated youths who have developed protection against coronavirus ahead of the new school year.
The national serological survey, which is conducted jointly by the health and education ministries and by the IDF Home Front Command, is focused on the nearly 1.5 million students between the ages of three and 12 who are not yet eligible for the jab.
It aims to discover how many children developed strong antibody protection against coronavirus after having an unrecorded or latent illness, according to the education ministry.
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A child undergoes a test for coronavirus antibodies at a clinic near Jerusalem
(Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Those children with sufficient antibodies will not be forced to quarantine when exposed to a COVID patient, a move aimed at limiting school-year disruptions.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved the call up of 6,000 IDF reservists to aid in the testing efforts.
Last Thursday, Israel began offering the booster shot to the over 40 population.
As of Sunday, some 1.43 million people had already received a third shot, three weeks after the vaccination campaign was launched for those over 60s, who were fully inoculated at least five months earlier.
Professor Ran Balicer, who heads the medical forum advising the cabinet warned that morbidity could still rise despite booster shots, that were proven to slow contagion somewhat.
Opening schools where the virus could spread followed by the expected overcrowding in synagogues during the High Holiday, could add to surging numbers of infections in September, Balicer told the ministers.
First published: 08:16, 08.23.21