An estimated 100,000 infants and children in Israel are not fully protected against poliovirus, and some are completely unprotected, Kan 11 reported.
Among the unprotected infants are approximately 20,000 infants aged six weeks to 11 months. Some are completely unvaccinated, while others have received one or two doses.
The data also shows that 68,000 children between the ages of 1-6 years of age are not fully vaccinated or who are not vaccinated at all. From the age of six until the age of 20, there are 40,000 who are unvaccinated.
Earlier this year, it was reported that a new strain of poliovirus had been discovered in Israel, after spreading in communities abroad. The new strain is resistant to the oral polio vaccine (OPV) but receipt of the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) still provides protection.
IPV is given as a series of four vaccines, at ages two, four, six, and twelve months of age. It is between 99-100% effective at preventing poliovirus-derived illness and complications.