The Palestinian Authority has rejected the transfer of more than a million COVID-19 vaccine doses 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, following Palestinian public criticism.
The announcement came after Israel delivered a first shipment of 100,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to the PA, within hours of the Israeli government’s announcement of the vaccine exchange agreement.
Israel said it 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 due 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 to Palestinian possession, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced late Friday that he was canceling the shipment because they are expiring soon.
Israel, however, said it had given the Palestinians that information.
The PA’s reversal 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 Israeli Health Ministry said on Saturday night that "the COVID-19 vaccines we gave the Palestinian Authority were perfectly valid. The expiration dates were known to the PA and everything was agreed upon in advance. The Palestinians received the same vaccines that are currently given to Israelis."
The PA government purchased four million vaccines from Pfizer and is hoping to receive them as soon as possible, she said, noting that it would continue to exert pressure on the company to provide the Palestinians with the vaccines they had purchased 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 was that the agreement would not be signed under the “State of Palestine” and the second was that the vaccines would not be transferred to 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 MORBIDITY in Israel has plummeted due to the vaccination campaign over the past few months, many health experts warned that the vulnerability of the Palestinian population to the virus represents a risk for Israel and that the country should consider inoculation of Palestinians to be 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.”
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 of 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 and violating international law by not vaccinating them.
However, the Palestinian Authority had not asked Israel for help with the vaccines, while Israel had actually offered assistance and vaccinated 100,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits as Israel’s vaccine rollout reached its peak. Israel also vaccinated Palestinians in east Jerusalem, who are registered under Israeli HMOs.
In addition, the Oslo Accords stipulate that the PA is responsible for healthcare, including vaccinations, for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.
They received about 10,000 doses of the Russian 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,” according to Ghada Majadli of Physicians for Human Rights.
“Israel has a moral and legal responsibility, according to international law, to ensure the health of the residents of the territories under its control,” Majadli said. “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.”
Zachary Keyser and Rosella Tercatin contributed to this report.