"COVID-19 Vaccine, Children Must Receive for Herd Immunity"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] In Israel, which ranks first in COVID-19 vaccination rates, it has been diagnosed that vaccinating children is inevitable to achieve herd immunity.

Nadav Davidovich, a professor at Ben-Gurion University and an advisor on Israel's COVID-19 response, stated in an interview with The Times of Israel on the 4th (local time) that achieving herd immunity is difficult without vaccinating children, who make up 30% of the total population.

Israel, which is conducting an experiment on herd immunity, has completed the first dose for about 3.3 million people, accounting for more than 35% of the total population (approximately 9.3 million), and the number of people who have completed the second dose has also exceeded 1.9 million. Israel began vaccinations with the Pfizer vaccine in December last year.

Professor Davidovich said, "The strong infectivity of the variant virus has raised the threshold for herd immunity," adding, "The vaccination rate must be over 80%." He emphasized, "30% of Israel's population consists of children and adolescents, and without vaccinating them, herd immunity cannot be reached."

Professor Gili Regev-Yochay, an infectious disease expert at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, also said in an interview with Channel 13, "In a situation where variant viruses dominate and reinfections are increasing, herd immunity is difficult without vaccinating children."

Additionally, Dr. Boaz Lev, a vaccine advisory member of the Israeli government, said, "For herd immunity to be achieved, children must gain immunity through COVID-19 infection, so that 90% of the total population has immunity."

Currently, there is no precedent for vaccinating students and children under 16, and safety verification through clinical trials has not been conducted at all. Professor Regev-Yochay pessimistically stated, "Unfortunately, at this point, achieving herd immunity (through vaccination) has become even more distant," adding, "For the time being, we have to live with the coronavirus."

Despite large-scale vaccinations and strong lockdown measures, Israel continues to see daily confirmed cases approaching 8,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.