Parents of three children aged 6, 8 and 10 argued whether to vaccinate their minor children against Covid-19, when the mother sought to vaccinate them, and the father objected it, arguing that the Ministry of Health's recommendation to vaccinate children is unreliable.
The Court held that the mother may vaccinate her minor children even without the father's permission. Israeli law stipulates that in order to approve the taking of medical measures on a minor without the consent of both parents, a medical opinion, which entails an explanation on why the measures is necessary to maintain the minor's health, possible harm to the minor's lifestyle and the chance to improve the minor’s lifestyle, is required. In addition, consideration should be given to the minor’s will, however if the minor is of young age, less importance will be given to his, as the assumption is that he may not have sufficient understanding of the subject to express an opinion about it. Here, the Ministry of Health's recommendation to vaccinate minor children constitutes a sufficient "medical opinion" for the purpose of vaccinating the minors. However, because the children are of young age, it is doubtful that they will be able to express a real opinion on the subject, and therefore the mother is entitled to vaccinated them without considering their opinion and despite the father's opposition.