Jerusalem Municipality ramps up teen COVID-19 vaccination campaign
The campaign, designed to incentivize children and teens to get vaccinated, promises every youngster who gets the COVID-19 vaccine a free ticket to a new ice skating rink.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPeople seen walking on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The Jerusalem Municipality, in collaboration with Magen David Adom (MDA) and the Health Ministry, ramped up their COVID-19 campaign this week to vaccinate teens aged 12-18.The campaign, designed to incentivize children and teens to get vaccinated, promises every youngster who gets the COVID-19 vaccine a free ticket to a new ice skating rink, scheduled to open its doors later this summer.Vaccination stands have been set up in the streets of Jerusalem. This is in addition to the vaccine centers operated by the country's Health Funds. But why is Israel pushing to vaccinate teens, when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended not to?While the WHO did conclude that the Pfizer vaccine is “suitable for use by people aged 12 years and above,” and that “children aged between 12 and 15 who are at high risk may be offered this vaccine alongside other priority groups for vaccination,” it also said more evidence is needed on the use of coronavirus vaccines in this population before making general recommendations.Israel stands to throw away about a million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at the end of the month if it does not find something else to do with them.While Prime Minister Naftali Bennett did announce a COVID-19 vaccine exchange agreement with South Korea on Tuesday, Israel is still running a rapid campaign to vaccinate all teens aged 12-18.The Jerusalem Municipality's vaccination campaign will end on Thursday, July 8, at Kiryat Hayovel Community Center.Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this article.
