(Bloomberg) -- Israel plans to begin giving the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 as soon as possible, after becoming the latest country to approve the inoculations.
The Health Ministry expects the first shipments of the children's vaccine -- which is weaker than the regular dose -- to arrive from the U.S. in the coming days, according to a spokesperson. A panel of experts at the ministry voted overwhelmingly in favor of the inoculation campaign last week.
Israel, whose Covid vaccination campaign led the world in its early months before slipping down the rankings, joins a number of other countries, including China, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S., to have approved children's vaccinations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took the step in late October, citing a controlled clinical study which indicated a 91% efficacy in disease prevention in the age group.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it would be up to parents to decide whether to have their children vaccinated. But he urged them to do so, adding he'd take his son to get the jab “as soon as it is possible.”
Less than 64% of Israel's population is fully-vaccinated according to Bloomberg's Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker -- well below countries like Japan, Qatar and Portugal. But the country's booster campaign, rolled out amid a fourth wave of the pandemic in the summer, is still out ahead globally, with more than 44% of the population receiving the shot.
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