Expiring Green Passes threaten to disrupt school reopenings

• Author: MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
• Published date: 29 September 2021

To help stop the spread, children were asked to screen themselves for the virus on Wednesday, and the Knesset approved the plan to require people working in the health, welfare and leisure industries to adhere to the Green Pass outline.

However, there is a concern that there could be a shortage of teachers come Sunday, as the Health and Education ministries agreed earlier this month that educational staff will also be required to follow the Green Pass outline.

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This means that beginning October 3, only those who have been vaccinated with two shots or a booster shot in the last six months or who recovered or recovered and got one dose in the last six months will be able to enter schools.

The Education Ministry said around 50% of teachers do not yet meet the new Green Pass requirements, though they expect the percentage to rise. At the same time, there are still around 300 teachers and other educational staff who have refused to be vaccinated or tested and therefore are staying home.

Coronavirus officers have been appointed by the Education Ministry in several schools to ensure that only Green Pass holders – parents or teachers – enter the school. One school in Jerusalem told parents that although not every adult will be checked in the morning, there will be "spot checks."

"Adults who enter without a Green Pass will be open to prosecution," the school said. "Please do not put us in a difficult situation. The health of our children is in our hands."

Around 50 teachers and parents protested in front of the Education Ministry in Jerusalem on Wednesday against the new Green Pass outline, calling the pandemic "fake" and saying there was no epidemiological value to the outline.

Children from preschool through sixth grade were required to take a rapid antigen test before returning to school and show a negative result on entry. The tests were meant to be taken by Wednesday evening and reported to the school through an online form or one that could be printed and presented.

Students who tested positive were supposed to stay home and then be screened with a PCR test.

Around 150,000 students who contracted coronavirus in the last six months were exempt from being screened. Also, about 100,000 students are already in isolation and could not go to school on Thursday morning anyway.

By press time, around 80% of parents had collected...