BEIRUT (AP) – The World Bank on Tuesday threatened to suspend funding for coronavirus vaccines in Lebanon, while investigating the suspicion of favoritism amid allegations that parliamentarians were inoculated in parliament without prior approval.
A senior Lebanese official overseeing the launch of the vaccine called it “outrageous” and threatened to resign amid a shout out on social media by Lebanese deeply distrustful of their notorious corrupt politicians.
The World Bank is a major funder of Lebanon’s coronavirus campaign and has approved $ 34 million to pay for vaccines for 2 million people. Suspending its assistance would have serious implications for the cashless government, which is going through an unprecedented financial and economic crisis and is relying on external assistance.
The vaccination campaign began on February 14, and Lebanon has so far received nearly 60,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The World Bank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have signed an agreement to independently monitor the coronavirus vaccination campaign in Lebanon. Decades of corruption and mismanagement have brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy and collapse.
“There have been numerous violations at vaccination centers,” said Sharaf Abu Sharaf, president of the Lebanese Medical Association. He said the violations include vaccinating people who were not registered or who were not included in the first phase of the campaign.
Lebanese expected the launch of the vaccine to be full of corruption and violations, but news of the vaccination of parliamentarians as a political group in a building used by the legislature sparked new outrage among the country’s population on Monday.
Abdul Rahman Bizri, who heads the vaccination campaign oversight commission, had planned to resign in protest on Tuesday, but later changed his mind, saying his commission would hold a meeting on Wednesday to look into the case.
He asked for an explanation from the legislature.
“What happened today is outrageous and should not be repeated,” Bizri said. “There is no political priority.”
Bizri said the national vaccination plan requires people to fire at pre-established centers without favoritism, adding that before holding the press conference he discussed the issue with the World Bank’s regional director.
“Everyone has to register and wait their turn! #nowasta, “World Bank Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha wrote on Twitter. He used a Lebanese term that means there should be no nepotism.
Parliament Secretary-General Adnan Daher was quoted by the state media as denying that the 16 lawmakers had crossed the line, which prioritises medical workers and residents over the age of 75. Daher said all lawmakers who received an inoculation registered and registered correctly.
Some of the lawmakers inoculated on Tuesday are less than 75 years old, according to names broadcast in the local media, including the deputy speaker of parliament Elie Ferzli, who is 71 years old. Ferzli said in a tweet that he had registered to receive the vaccine at the end of January.
In January, the Lebanese government launched a digital coronavirus vaccination registration platform for the nation’s residents.
Later on Tuesday, in a statement issued by the presidency, it was said that President Michel Aoun, 86, as well as his wife and 10 people in their entourage, also received their vaccines in accordance with the vaccination platform. online.
The World Bank “may suspend vaccine funding and support for the COVID19 response in Lebanon !!” Jha wrote on Twitter earlier Tuesday. “I call on everyone, that is, everyone, regardless of your position, to register and wait your turn.”
Jha said the vaccination plan “is not in line with the national plan” agreed with the World Bank and “we will record it (as a) violation of the terms and conditions agreed with us for a fair and equitable vaccination”.
Lebanon, a country of 6 million people, including one million Syrian refugees, has reported more than 356,000 cases of coronavirus and 4,387 deaths since the first case was reported in February last year.
A recent increase in cases has overwhelmed hospitals already struggling to cope with the country’s severe financial crisis.