Panel Open for the Public Regarding the Vaccination of Children Ages 5-11 against COVID-19

For the first time, the Pandemic Response Team shall hold a public discussion of the vaccination of children aged 5-11 for coronavirus. The discussion shall be held on Thursday, 4.11.2021, at 15:00.

After the FDA's expert committee recommended the vaccination of children aged 5-11 for coronavirus, the Pandemic Response Team (PRT) has decided to hold a public discussion and to present the information on this matter and the full array of considerations ahead of the resolution on its recommendation to the Ministry of Health's Director General.

The Pandemic Response Team has decided to offer live broadcast of this discussion and to invite the public both to speak their mind before the members of the committee and to pose their questions to the experts, as part of a transparent procedure in this matter. The resolution on the committee's recommendation shall not be made during this discussion.   

The discussion by the PRT shall include a presentation on this matter by experts and Pfizer specialists as well as a questions-and-answers session addressing the public's concerns and voicing additional opinions.  

To submit your concerns, you may take one of the two routes below:

1. Request to voice an opinion on the vaccination of children aged 5-11 before the PRT
2. Questions or concerns that the public wishes the presenting experts to address in the discussion

Request to voice an opinion on the vaccination of children aged 5-11 before the PRT

1. Anyone who wishes to voice their opinion on this matter is welcome to apply by 2.11.2021 at 9:00. Applicants shall be notified about presenting their opinions by 3.11.2021 at 13:00. 
2. Applications should be filed in this link.
3. As part of your application, you will need to describe the opinion that you wish to present before the PRT. Inasmuch as you have documents supporting your opinion, you will be required to attach them to your application. 
4. Given that the number of applicants is expected to be large, speakers will be chosen according to the following criteria:
   1. Representation for healthcare and medical professionals, representation for civil society organizations, representation for the general public.
   2. Representation according to subject of concern – vaccine's safety, vaccine's efficacy, other concerns. 
   3.  Representation according to the speaker's attitude towards vaccination – pro-vaccination, anti-vaccination, general concerns about the vaccine regardless of support or opposition.

Applicants will be chosen by lot. The lots drawn shall maintain representation in accordance with the criteria presented. 

5. The public discussion shall be held similarly to the FDA's discussions:

• Each speaker shall be allotted 3 minutes.
• The speaker shall present his or her opinion without using the video camera.
• Should the speaker wish to present a presentation, the presentation shall be sent ahead of time until 3.11.2021 at 21:00.
• The presentation shall address the concerns that the applicant has raised in his or her application.
• The slides shall be projected by the Ministry of Health's according to the presenting speaker's instructions. 
• There will be proper disclosure of potential conflicts of interests.
• The order of speakers shall be determined by lot.
• About 20 speakers shall be chosen to present their opinion to the PRT.
• Speakers shall focus on professional concerns only. There is no room for personal or collective attacks on the PRT's members or the Ministry of Health's staff. There will be no tolerance to any kind of verbal abuse during the discussion. In cases of violation of this rule, the speaker's presentation shall be terminated immediately.

Questions or concerns that the public wishes the presenting experts to address in the discussion

Anyone who wishes to raise their concerns is welcome to apply by 2.11.2021 at 16:00.

1. Applications should be filed in this link.
2. Among the applications received, several questions shall be chosen to be presented to the experts and answered.
3. The questions shall be presented by the discussion facilitator.

The Ministry of Health sees great importance both in holding the discussion in a public forum and in presenting the PRT's members with a wide variety of opinions and concerns for discussion before they submit their recommendation. At the request of the Ministry of Health's Director General, Mr. Nir Kedar, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs' Deputy Director General, shall lead this process.   

Application form for voicing an opinion