June 23, 2021 –Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh cancelled an agreement last Friday to accept a million of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine doses this Summer in exchange for giving Israel a similar number of doses the PA Health Ministry is expecting to receive this Fall.
It would have been one of the first deals between the two governments since Naftali Bennett took over as Israeli Prime Minister June 13.
The deal, however, did not last. Israel’s shipment of vaccines does not hold up “to the specifications contained in the agreement,” said Ibrahim Melhem, the PA government spokesman. “The government refuses to receive vaccines that are about to expire.”
In response, the Israeli Health Ministry said the vaccine doses given to the PA were “identical in every way to the vaccines currently being given to citizens of Israel.”
Near-Expired Vaccines
Israel shipped the 90,000 doses on Friday. Those vaccines had an expiration dates of June 2021, according to the PA Health Ministry.
“They told us the expiration date was in July or August, which would allow lots of time for us, but (the expiration) turned out to be in June. That’s not enough time to use them, so we rejected them”, said PA Health Minister Mai Alkaila, Reuters reported.
A spokesperson from Pfizer could not be reached for comment.
Vaccination Rates
Israel has one of the highest vaccination rates against Covid-19 in the world. As of this week, Israel has administered 10,651,894 Covid-19 vaccines, reaching 58.8 percent of its population. The country has witnessed 6,400 Covid-19 related deaths, according to Reuters report.
The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, has administered approximately 716,393 vaccine doses, 7.6 percent of the total population. The Palestinian territories have lost 3,800 people to Covid-19, as reported by Reuters.
Fragile Trust
The agreement may have initially meant to mend ties between Israel and the Palestinian territories. However, the incident appears to have weakened trust even more. Both sides say they hope to renegotiate a deal.
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