Covid-19, Israel sends 5 thousand doses of vaccine to Palestinians

The goal is to immunize at least some of the health workers, engaged in the front line in the fight against the virus. United Nations states Israel has a "responsibility" towards the Palestinians in collaborating to fight the virus. Netanyahu government disagrees. Ramallah hopes to take advantage of the Covax scheme, but times are uncertain.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israel today announced the transfer of 5 thousand doses of the vaccine to Palestinians, to immunize at least a part of health workers every day at the forefront of the fight against the new coronavirus.

Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted one of the most efficient and advanced anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaigns in the world, so much so that it has become the subject of study for the Pfizer / BioNTech manufacturer on the real effectiveness. However, his choice of relegating the Palestinians to the margins had raised controversy and reprimands of responsibility under international conventions.

Recently, UN experts said Israel has a "responsibility" to Palestinians in terms of vaccination. This has been rejected by the government which states that it is not foreseen by the protocols and there have been no requests from Ramallah to do so.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, since the start of the health emergency, Israel has recorded about 640,000 cases of the new coronavirus, with 4,700 deaths from Covid-19. In the West Bank and Gaza, the total infections would be 160 thousand, with 1833 confirmed victims.

The Netanyahu government has signed a special agreement with Pfizer that has allowed it to become the first country in the world to administer vaccines to the population. To date 1.7 million people, about 20% of the total, have already received both doses. More than three million benefited from the first administration, while closures and lockdowns remain to contain the spread of the virus in this crucial phase of the immunization campaign.

On the other hand, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip the vaccination program remains uncertain: the Ramallah government has not yet negotiated the purchase of doses, there is no evidence on which product to aim for (Russian, American, Chinese, etc.) and when it can start the mass campaign. According to some sources, the hope is to be able to take advantage of the UN-sponsored Covax scheme for the poorest nations, but times remain uncertain and the 5,000 doses that have arrived pro-bono from Russia to date have just been served. 2.7 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, another 1.8 million in Gaza.