Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky at his home in the city of Bnei Brak, on March 17, 2021
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky at his home in the city of Bnei Brak, on March 17, 2021David Cohen/Flash90

Two senior haredi rabbis have endorsed a call by their personal physician urging parents to vaccinate their children against the coronavirus.

Dr. Meshulam Hart, a family doctor and pediatrician from Bnei Brak who also serves as the private physician for Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, penned a letter Tuesday morning, urging parents to vaccinate children who are over the age of 12.

Children who have already been infected with the coronavirus, however, are exempted from the call to vaccinate.

Hart’s open letter to parents claimed the call was endorsed by both Rabbi Kanievsky and Rabbi Edelstein.

“During this period, when there is concern over new outbreaks, especially among students and young people who are not vaccinated, and after careful consideration of the matter and after bringing the opinions of top doctors to [Rabbi Kanievsky and Rabbi Edelstein], they have instructed that the following message be made public.”

“Because the issue is a matter of saving lives for others…and in particular when there is a real danger of disrupting Torah study and having schools and yeshivas closed, every student from the age of 12 and up, who does not know for certain that they were already infected with and recovered from the coronavirus, is instructed to get vaccinated according to doctors’ orders.”