JERUSALEM (PA) – Israel on Friday postponed vaccination plans for Palestinians working inside the country and its West Bank settlements until further notice.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates day-to-day affairs with the Palestinian Authority, has called for the postponement of “administrative delays”, adding that a new start date for the campaign will be set later.
The vaccination program was scheduled to begin on Sunday during crossings from the West Bank to Israel and Israeli industrial zones.
Such vaccinations could have calmed criticism of Israel for not sharing significant amounts of its vaccine stocks with Israeli-controlled Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – even though Israel has managed to launch one of the fastest launches. of vaccines in the world.
Israel has also announced plans to share surplus vaccines with distant allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, but the decision has been frozen by legal questions. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with the leaders of Denmark and Austria, said the three nations would join forces in the fight against COVID-19 through an investment in research and vaccine launches.
About 100,000 Palestinian workers in the West Bank work in Israel. The PA has received a sufficient dose for just 6,000 people – meaning that the vast majority of the estimated 7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will remain unvaccinated.
The West Bank was placed under new restrictive measures last week to reduce the rise in infections.