By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) – The Palestinian Authority said on Sunday it expects to receive its first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in March under an agreement with drugmaker AstraZeneca, accusing Israel of a duty to ensure vaccines available in the occupied territory.
While Israel has already become the world leader in per capita vaccinations, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have yet to be acquired through their first supplies.
Yasser Bozyeh, the Palestinian director of public health, told Reuters that in addition to agreeing in principle with AstraZeneca, the Palestinians were also seeking supplies from Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Russia, which developed the Sputnik V vaccine.
Supplies would also be obtained through a vaccination program of the World Health Organization for poor and middle-income countries.
There was no immediate response from AstraZeneca to a Reuters email request for comment.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Israel “ignored its duties as an occupying power and committed racial discrimination against the Palestinian people, depriving them of the right to health care.”
“The Palestinian leadership’s search to secure the vaccines from various sources does not absolve Israel of its responsibility to the Palestinian people to supply the vaccines,” he said.
In the interim peace agreements with Israel, the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-government on the West Bank. Hamas Islamists run the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s vaccination program covers the country’s Arab citizens and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem.
On the West Bank, it has given vaccinations to Israeli settlers, but not to Palestinian residents, who receive health services from the Palestinian Authority.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Israel has a legal obligation to provide vaccinations for Palestinians under occupation. Israeli officials say they can share vaccination with the Palestinians as soon as Israel’s needs are met.
A WHO official said on Sunday that the organization had held “informal talks” with Israel on allocating supplies to the Palestinians to vaccinate health workers. The official, Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WTO office in the Palestinian territories, said Israel had indicated that it would examine the option.
(Report by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Written by Jeffrey Heller; Edited by Peter Graff)