Experts Urge Israel to Add Meningococcal Vaccine After Two Toddler Deaths

After two toddlers died in the past week amid suspected meningococcal infection, Israeli pediatric and infectious-disease experts are pressing the Health Ministry to add the vaccine to the national basket of covered medicines. Prof. Ilan Dalal, head of the Israeli Pediatric Association and director of pediatrics at Wolfson Medical Center, said, "Do not wait for the next tragedy, add the vaccine to the basket immediately. This is about human lives." He argued that leaving it out makes protection a privilege for families who can pay.

The full three-dose course costs about 1,200 shekels, or roughly 400 shekels per dose, though supplementary health plans can offer it at about 200 shekels a dose. Dr. Oren Gordon, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist and deputy head of pediatrics at Hadassah Ein Kerem, said the result is an avoidable gap, where wealthy families can vaccinate while others remain unprotected. He noted that Israel records dozens of invasive meningococcal cases each year, some of them fatal.

The latest deaths were a three-year-old child who died Saturday at Dana Children’s Hospital in Ichilov after arriving in septic shock with suspected meningococcemia, and a two-year-old toddler who died earlier in the week at Soroka with suspected meningococcal infection. Dalal called the deaths "a painful and shocking reminder of an ongoing failure" and said pediatricians and infectious-disease specialists have been fighting for years to get the life-saving vaccine approved, only to be turned down repeatedly because of budget concerns.

In 2025, the Health Ministry recorded 56 meningococcal cases across all ages, including eight cases of strain B and two deaths from other strains. Gordon said the disease can progress within hours from apparent health to shock, organ failure and death, and that survivors may suffer lasting neurological damage, hearing loss or limb amputations. He said a rash that does not fade when pressed, especially with high fever and deterioration, requires immediate medical attention because "every hour can be critical."

The vaccine, Bexsero, protects against meningococcus B, the most common strain in Israel, and has been recommended since 2016 for babies from two months to age two. Officials estimate nationwide vaccination could prevent about 18 illnesses and up to one death a year. It is not part of routine immunizations and is available in the health basket only for a small high-risk group. About 20 countries, including France, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Greece, have already added it to routine schedules. Israel has now submitted it to the benefits committee for the seventh year in a row, but it was again left out, with opponents citing its 63 million shekel cost, limited effect against only strain B, and the staffing burden of a three-dose rollout in mother-and-child clinics.