Health Ministry officials last week made a final decision and 200,000 polio oral booster vaccinate doses were delivered to Tipat Chalav centers around southern Israel. The minister has decided to give an oral booster vaccine to 200,000 children under the age of nine in the southern district. An additional 300,000 doses of the vaccine are on their way t Israel as officials are likely to expand the program.

The decision follows traces of the virus in sewage systems in the Beersheva and Sharon areas, as well as conducting sample testing on 1,400 people that were analyzed in the United States, providing local health officials with an accurate idea how many people carry the virus.

Senior ministry officials held a press conference on Sunday to make the new campaign official.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)