Palestinians reject Israeli deal to transfer over 1 m. COVID vaccines

The Palestinian Authority rejected the transfer of some 1 million vaccines from Israel after its health authorities determined that they “fall short of meeting the technical criteria,” PA Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said in a press conference late Friday.The announcement came after Israel delivered a first shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 to the authority. According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, 100,000 vaccines within hours of the announcement by the new Israeli government that an agreement had been reached.According to the announcement, Israel would supply up to 1.4 million doses of the vaccine immediately to the PA and in September or October, when the doses purchased from Pfizer by the PA are expected to arrive, the same number of doses would be returned to Israel. The exchange deal would allow a large number of Palestinians to be vaccinated months earlier than planned.However, after some of the vaccines had already been transferred over to Palestinian possession its Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced in the late hours of Friday that he was cancelling the shipment of the vaccines due to the fact that the vaccines are expiring soon – although this was already understood, according to the Israeli announcement. The decision was taken after many Palestinians criticized the PA government over the deal with Israel, largely because the doses were about to expire. They called on the government to cancel the agreement.Al-Kaila said that the PA government had notified Israel that the vaccines must conform to all specifications and conditions of validity and safety.“After medical and technical teams received and inspected the first batch, it was found that the doses did not conform to the technical specifications as previously agreed upon, and that their expiry date was close,” she said.

The PA government purchased four million vaccines from Pfizer and is hoping to receive them as soon as possible, she said, noting that the government would continue to exert pressure on Pfizer to provide the Palestinians with the vaccines they purchased from the company as soon as possible.Already on Thursday, before any formal announcement was made, the PA reportedly held issue with two conditions surrounding the transfer of the vaccines, one of which included that the agreement would not be signed under the “State of Palestine” and the second was that the vaccines would be prohibited from being transferred into the Gaza Strip.”Yesterday, we informed the Israelis that we were giving up all vaccines because they had agreed not to supply some of them to Gaza,” the Palestinian Health Minister said Friday. “Today, they came back to us and agreed.”
As the morbidity in Israel plummeted as a result of the vaccination campaign in the past few months, many health experts have warned that the vulnerability of the Palestinian population to the virus represented a risk for Israel and that the country should consider inoculating them a priority.Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz spoke with al-Kaila on Friday, and said the agreement will lower the COVID-19 numbers in the Palestinian Authority without reducing Israel’s stores of vaccines.
“Coronavirus does not recognize borders or differentiate between nations,” Horowitz said. “This important move is in the interest of all sides. I hope and believe this move will promote cooperation between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in other areas, as well.”A-Kaila thanked Horowitz for the cooperation, the Israeli Health Ministry said.“Coordination with Israel on the topic of coronavirus has been excellent, and I hope the ties between us will grow closer, certainly in the areas of health and human rights,” she said, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.COGAT commander Maj.-Gen. Rassan Alian said that “over the last few weeks, we have been working very hard to bring about the signing of the vaccination agreement between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which entails a significant joint effort to eradicate COVID-19 in our region.“This is a paramount health and economic interest, as we live in one epidemiological space,” Alian explained. “This agreement is another in a series of measures advanced and implemented…with the aim of maintaining the health of the area’s residents and restoring the routine of life.”Earlier this year, activists, NGOs and media outlets accused Israel of withholding vaccines from Palestinians or violating international law by not vaccinating them.However, the Palestinian Authority had not asked Israel for help with the vaccines, but Israel had actually offered and vaccinated 100,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits as Israel’s vaccine rollout reached its peak. In addition, Israel vaccinated Palestinians in east Jerusalem, which are registered under Israeli HMOs.In addition, according to the Oslo Accords, stipulate that the PA is responsible for healthcare, including vaccinations, for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.The Palestinians received thousands of doses of the Sputnik V vaccine earlier this year, as well.Physicians for Human Rights said that Friday’s announcement was “too little and far too late.”“Instead of taking responsibility and providing vaccines without delay to the entire population and without unnecessary calculations, Israel is making deals with the lives and health of millions of people,” Ghada Majadli of Physicians for Human Rights stated. “Israel has a moral and legal responsibility, according to international law, to ensure the health of the residents of the territories under its control. The fact that Israel has only transferred a small number of vaccines is disgraceful and a shameful avoidance of responsibility. Israel must immediately provide vaccines to all residents of the West Bank and Gaza.”

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