Palestinian Authority faces criticism over vaccine rollout
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian Authority's decision to divert some of its tiny stockpile of coronavirus vaccines to senior officials, soccer players and others has sparked controversy, feeding into long-standing concerns about corruption as it struggles to respond to a worsening outbreak.
The PA has repeatedly said that its first vaccines would go to medical workers and elderly patients, who are at greatest risk of severe illness or death. But to date it has only acquired enough doses to inoculate 6,000 people in a population of nearly 5 million.
“We have focused from the beginning on health workers, but there are around 100,000" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Health Minister Mai Alkaila told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s not enough.”
The Health Ministry says it has secured tens of thousands more doses through a World Health Organization program designed to aid poor countries and through agreements with pharmaceutical companies, but they have yet to materialize following weeks of delays.
Israel, which has faced international criticism for not sharing its vast stockpile with Palestinians living in territories it has controlled for more than a half-century, has given the PA 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine. The PA acquired another 10,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Both are given in two doses.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights and Aman, another Palestinian group that promotes transparency, have each issued statements calling on the Palestinian government to explain the criteria used for distributing the vaccines.
The ICHR said it had documented cases in which the vaccine was distributed “based on mediation and personal relationships, without a justified medical priority,” as well as cases in which officials had helped their relatives to obtain the vaccine...
