JERUSALEM: Israel said Friday it’ll move about 1 million doses of soon-to-expire coronavirus vaccines into the Palestinian Authority in exchange for an identical amount of doses that the Palestinians hope to get later this season.
Israel, which has reopened after vaccinating some 85 percent of its elderly population, has faced criticism for not only sharing its own vaccines using an 4.5 million Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The agreement was first announced by the new Israeli government that has been sworn in on Sunday.
It also said it would move Pfizer vaccines which will expire shortly, and the PA would move an identical amount of vaccines as soon as it receives them in the pharmaceutical business in September or even October.
Israel has completed one of their very prosperous vaccination programs on the planet, enabling it to completely reopen schools and businesses.
This week, police lifted the need to use masks in public, among the last remaining limitations.
Rights groups have stated that Israel, as an occupying authority, is not able to supply fingerprints to the Palestinians.
Israel denies having this obligation, pointing towards peace agreements reached by the Palestinians from the 1990s.
Those arrangements state the PA, that has restricted freedom in regions of the occupied West Bank, accounts for healthcare but the two sides must cooperate to fight pandemics.
Gaza is dominated by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which is regarded as a terrorist organization by Israel and Western nations.
The PA has stated it’s acquiring its supplies through arrangements with private businesses and also a World Health Organization system designed to assist destitute nations.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the anticipated Pfizer doses have been provided through this application, called Covax, or even a personal arrangement.