Overview
- A two-year-old unvaccinated girl died at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem after about ten days in intensive care, including treatment on an ECMO machine.
- The death toll has reached eight, all unvaccinated infants and toddlers under two and a half, which medical officials say were likely preventable with routine MMR vaccination.
- More than 1,880 infections have been confirmed nationwide, with 562 hospitalizations and about 90% of those hospitalized being children, according to the Health Ministry.
- Israel’s chief epidemiologist Sharon Alroy-Preis warned that true infections likely number several thousand higher and that continued transmission is expected as many children remain unvaccinated.
- Emergency efforts boosted vaccinations sharply in charedi cities—Jerusalem up 500% and Beit Shemesh up 630%—raising coverage to 83% and 82% respectively, while national first-dose coverage is about 89% versus roughly 95% needed to halt spread.