Palestinian Territories: Have Covid-19 Vaccines Been Used Right?
Russian Sputnik V vaccine arrives in Ramallah.
ABBAS MOMANI AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
While Israel has already vaccinated nearly 50% of its population, in the Palestinian Territories vaccine doses are trickling in and vaccination normally only concerns frontline medical personnel.
A document from the Palestinian Authority shows, however, that other people not necessarily a priority have also been vaccinated.
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With our correspondent in Ramallah,
Alice Froussard
A document published on March 2 by the Palestinian Authority shows that while 90% of the 12,000 vaccines received were given to health workers as planned, the rest were reserved for ministers, the national football team, the member from the security of the office of the president and prime minister, to the Jordanian royal court and to students traveling abroad.
There, the anger is there, some accuse the government of having diverted vaccines for the benefit of the authorities.
Feeling of betrayal
Anger, frustration, and above all a feeling of betrayal.
The statement, released Tuesday, March 2 by the Palestinian Authority to explain how were eventually used Palestinian vaccines was a shock to the population, explains Ubai al Abudeh, director of the research center and Palestinian development Bisan "
Giving vaccine to people who do not meet the criteria, such as security personnel, the national football team, students who want to go abroad, all of this has really damaged the image of the Palestinian Authority in the eyes Palestinians.
We have known about corruption for years, but seeing that there is corruption even in the right to health care is really on another level.
"
A hypocritical government
He points out that the Palestinian Authority should have insisted more and held Israel "
responsible for the vaccine supply
", as an occupying power under international law.
But, according to him, this distribution of vaccines shows above all the hypocrisy of the government.
Some Palestinian activists then called for the creation of an independent committee to manage vaccines.
Issam Aruri is the director of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center: “
We have officially called for the opening of an investigative committee.
And we call on the government to be accountable, not just to be transparent
”.
It will be complicated to set up, and, in the meantime, the vaccine doses are still pending.
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Read also:
Israel will vaccinate Palestinians with an Israeli work permit
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Palestinian territories
Coronavirus
Health and medicine
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