Israel will issue kindergartners and elementary schoolchildren free COVID-19 home-testing kits Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday.
"Every child in Israel — those in kindergartens, elementary schools and also teaching faculty — will in the coming days, receive three at-home rapid testing kits," Bennett said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
His comments came amid a severe shortage in Antigen testing kits in pharmacies across Israel after the Health Ministry revised its testing policy.
The government last week earmarked PCR tests for only people at high risk to develop serious illness from coronavirus, saying that the less vulnerable should home-test instead.
"We have taken care in advance to transfer inventories to schools precisely for such a situation, and now these kits will be used to ease the burden of parents," Bennett added.
The government was also negotiating price reductions with major pharmacy chains, Bennett said, adding: "In any event, costs will come down in the near future because the market will be flooded with millions of kits that will arrive in Israel."
The kits cost around 25 shekels to 35 shekels ($8 and $11) in Israeli stores, many of which have reported running out. Nachman Ash, director-general of the Health Ministry, told 103 FM radio that unit price should be no more than 10 shekels ($3).
Also on Monday, Israel received its first shipment of Merck's COVID-19 treatment pill molnupiravir.
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The first shipment of Merck's anti-COVID pills lands at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday
(Photo: Amit Camile)
Molnupiravir was authorized by the United States last month for certain high-risk adult patients and has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical trial. In November, Britain became the first country in the world to approve molnupiravir.
The pills are intended for home treatment and should be given 3-5 days from the onset of symptoms and taken for five days, a Health Ministry statement said.
Israel last week began distributing Pfizer's coronavirus pill to at-risk patients with COVID-19.
First published: 11:50, 01.09.22