This archive report was first published on 22 August 2021.
On August 22, 2021, Israel began conducting antibody tests for children aged three and above, aiming to understand the level of protection against Covid-19 among nearly 1.5 million unvaccinated youths ahead of the new school year.
Despite the surge in daily infections caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, Israel's government is determined to avoid the hardships and developmental setbacks caused by school closures.
Israel has already started vaccinating children aged 12 and above, but the new testing program targets those between three and 12 years old who are not yet eligible for the jab.
The national serological survey is being conducted jointly by the health and education ministries, as well as the army's Home Front command.
According to the education ministry, the testing aims to discover how many children developed strong antibody protection against coronavirus after having an unrecorded or latent case.
Children with sufficient antibodies will not be forced to quarantine when exposed to a Covid patient, a move aimed at limiting school-year disruptions.
Mayor Moshe Leon of Jerusalem urged parents to bring their children for the free 15-minute test done by finger pin-prick, stating, 'My son got a positive result for Corona antibodies, apparently he was sick and we did not know about it.'
Her younger daughter, also tested on Sunday, did not have the antibodies.
A pilot program conducted last week focused on mainly ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities found that roughly a fifth of children had developed antibodies.
Education ministry director general Yigal Slovik stated last month that last year's school closures caused 'emotional and social damage' to students, including a 44 percent increase in referrals for suicidal risk diagnosis.
Israel was one of the first countries to launch a vaccination drive in mid-December 2020 via an agreement with Pfizer to obtain millions of paid vaccine doses in exchange for sharing data on their effectiveness.
