With some 700 Israelis infected in the latest outbreak of measles and thousands more who came in contact with the sick being urged to get vaccinated, a new bill seeks to keep unvaccinated children from spreading infectious diseases.
The bill, which was written in conjunction with the Israeli Medical Association and presented to the Knesset this week by MK Merav Ben-Ari (Kulanu), seeks to amend the existing public health directive to give the director general of the Health Ministry the authority to declare a public health emergency in the event of an epidemic of infectious disease and instruct schools not to allow unvaccinated children to attend.
Under directions from the Health Ministry, heads of schools and nursery schools would be able to bar unvaccinated children or staff members from the premises for the period of the declared health emergency. The law, if passed, will apply to any educational institution in which five or more children are enrolled, including day care centers, private nursery schools, city-run nursery schools, and primary and secondary schools.
In cases where a child has not been vaccinated for valid medical reasons (such as immunodeficiency) and has documentation of the condition preventing him or her from being vaccinated from a medical specialist, the school will be empowered to decide whether or not to allow the child into school while the Health Ministry directive remains in effect.
The background section of the bill states that "in addition to the protection that every child receives with the vaccinations, there is an additional [form of] protection known as 'herd immunity.' This is created in places where the majority of the public is vaccinated, protecting the vulnerable minority who is not.
"When a child enters school or nursery school without having been vaccinated, in absence of a [medical] reason, they unnecessarily endanger both themselves and the rest of the children, their families, and also the school staff and their families. The danger is much more prevalent when we are talking about nursery schools where the children are less than a year old, prior to having been vaccinated, and they are more exposed to infection," the bill reads.
Ben-Ari said that "our children are the most precious thing to us, and we must do everything to protect their health.
"As we know, vaccinations changed the face of medicine and the extent of sickness worldwide, so there is no justifiable reason for children not to be vaccinated and for their health and that of other children to be at risk. Not only that, it's been proved that vaccinations are not 100% effective, and when a sick child comes to school, there is a chance that they can infect other children, even ones that have been vaccinated.
"The Israel Pediatric Association reports that children's health and safety must be protected. We are calling on parents – vaccinate your children to prevent illness and infection," Ben-Ari said.
The Health Ministry reports that Director General Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov expects to host a meeting on a new initiative to increase the rate of vaccination in Israel.
"Even the existing law allows [the government] to compel vaccination in certain conditions," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, as flu season looms, Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman has received a flu shot.
"Vaccinations are the best way of protecting ourselves against disease. I urge the public to get vaccinated," Litzman said.
