According to a report in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Education Minister Yoav Galant has requested of Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and coronavirus project manager Prof. Ronni Gamzu that they initiate an immediate vaccination program against influenza for all school-age children, to be accomplished by October at the latest. The aim is purportedly to help the education sector deal with the ramifications of the coronavirus during the coming winter.
In his letter to Edelstein and Gamzu, Galant wrote that, "The coronavirus epidemic has caused a crisis in both the health and the education sectors, and now affects every aspect of life in Israel. The crisis in the education sector is particularly damaging for the nation's children, their parents, teaching staff, and indeed the entire population. During the coming winter, dealing with an influenza outbreak will not be like in other years - we are expecting to be dealing with something far more problematic, due to the parallel coronavirus epidemic."