New Israeli government and Palestinian Authority reach deal on COVID vaccines

[Beastly Boy]

Source: Axios

The new Israeli government agreed on Friday to transfer 1.2 million doses of Pfizer COVID vaccines to the Palestinian Authority. In return, Israel will receive the Pfizer vaccine shipment that the Palestinians were expected to get in October.

Why it matters: It's the first major decision by the new Israeli government on the Palestinian issue. Negotiations on the deal began during Netanyahu’s term but were expedited by the new government, Israeli health officials say.

Driving the news: The vaccines Israel will transfer to the Palestinian Authority are doses that will expire soon, and which Israel doesn’t need anymore because the majority of the population has already been vaccinated.

Israeli officials say this will allow the Palestinians to get the vaccines they urgently need three months ahead of time. Israel will get the shipment the Palestinians ordered from Pfizer that was supposed to arrive in the West Bank in October. As part of the agreement, the vaccines will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, who will distribute them in the West Bank. No vaccines will be transferred to Hamas-controlled Gaza at the moment. A first shipment of more than 100,000 doses will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority on Friday, and the rest next week.



Read more: https://www.axios.com/israel-palestinian-authority-covid-vaccines-34565ee9-36ea-4b9e-ab52-6e98f90447d8.html

[sabbat hunter]

1. Deal has been cancelled

https://thehill.com/policy/international/559172-palestinian-authority-calls-off-vaccine-exchange-with-israe

[Beastly Boy]

2. A little more background on this developing story:

The Palestinian Authority called off an agreement whereby Israel would transfer 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to it in exchange for a similar number later this year, hours after the deal was announced on Friday.

The Palestinians said the doses, which Israel began shipping to the occupied West Bank, are too close to expiring and do not meet their standards. In announcing the agreement, Israel had said the vaccines “will expire soon” without specifying the date.

Palestinian officials had come under heavy criticism on social media after the agreement was announced, with many accusing them of accepting subpar vaccines and suggesting they might not be effective.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which had largely shut down for the weekly Sabbath.

On edit: here's link to the source: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/18/22540290/palestinians-call-off-1m-dose-vaccine-exchange-israel

[Beastly Boy]

9. Israel: COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe, identical in every way to the vaccines

currently being administered to Israel's citizens.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-says-covid-19-vaccines-rejected-by-palestinians-were-safe-2021-06-19/

Israel and the PA on Friday announced a vaccine swap deal that would have seen Israel send up to 1.4 million doses of the vaccine made jointly by Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) to the PA in exchange for receiving a reciprocal number of doses later this year.

But soon after the announcement, the PA cancelled the deal and said it had sent an initial shipment of around 90,000 doses back to Israel. The PA's Health Minister Mai Alkaila said the delivery showed a June expiration date, sooner than the July-August date that had been agreed. read more

The "vaccine delivery transferred to the Palestinian Authority yesterday was perfectly in order," the Israeli health ministry said in a statement. The dates were known and agreed to by both parties, it said. "The vaccines delivered to the Palestinians are identical in every way to the vaccines currently being administered to Israel's citizens."

[Marrah_Goodman]

3. Have the Palestinians received any vaccines yet?

I would like to think the Israeli government made sure Palestinians had equal access to the vaccines as Israeli's who don't live in Gaza or the WB.

If not, why not? Why would they vaccinate almost everyone in non-Palestian areas first?

[Beastly Boy]

4. Apparently, some of them have, before the PA decided to send the rest of vaccines back.

As far as equal access, no, the Palestinians of West Bank and Gaza are not entitled to equal access. Being residents of an occupied territory under partial administrative control of the Palestinian Authority, they are not entitled to same vaccine access as Israelis, including Israeli Arabs or other minorities. As per the Oslo Accord, the Palestinian Authority has the responsibility for their health policies, and they were fully entitled to return the vaccines, for any reason or no reason at all, even though Israel already delivered the first batch of vaccines to them. Which is exactly what happened.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/18/22540290/palestinians-call-off-1m-dose-vaccine-exchange-israel

On edit: It is actually not clear whether any West Bank Palestinians had a chance to get vaccinated. The Palestinian Authority was pretty quick in returning the vaccines back to Israel.

[Marrah_Goodman]

5. I think that is pretty messed up

They should have sent a percentage of the first vaccines based on population/elderly, etc., so that everyone in their country (even parts they have under occupation) could have equal access. I feel the same way about American territories, like Guam or Puerto Rico.

If you have a population under your control then you are responsible for their well being.

[Beastly Boy]

6. Again, the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the well being of the West Bank Palestinians.

Israel couldn't even stop them from returning the vaccines Israel already delivered for distribution in the West Bank.

[Marrah_Goodman]

7. because they were just about expired.....

[Beastly Boy]

8. The reason doesn't matter. They can always find one even after the vaccines were delivered as agreed

The fact is, Palestinian Authority, not Israel, is responsible for the well-being of the West Bank Palestinians. And if PA says that the West Bank Palestinians are not getting any vaccines from Israel, they are not getting any vaccines from Israel.