Covid-19: Israel begins giving coronavirus jabs to children aged five to 11

Israel has started administering the coronavirus vaccine to children aged five to 11.

The country recently emerged from a fourth Covid wave, and daily infections have been relatively low for the last few weeks.

But Health Ministry statistics show that a large share of the new infections have been in children and teenagers.

Children aged five to 11 make up nearly half of active cases.

Officials hope the new inoculation campaign will help bring down the numbers and perhaps stave off a new wave.

Israeli media reported low demand for the shots on the first day they were available to this age group.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was expected to accompany his son later on Tuesday to get his jab in a bid to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated.

Israel, which has a population of more than nine million, has had more than 1.3 million infections since the start of the pandemic and more than 8,100 deaths.