BEIRUT (AP) – The World Bank on Tuesday threatened to suspend funding for coronavirus vaccines in Lebanon as it investigated the alleged favoritism amid accusations that legislators had been vaccinated in parliament without prior approval.
A Lebanese top official who oversees vaccination of vaccines calls it ‘outrageous’ and threatens to step down amid a scream on social media by Lebanese who have deeply regretted their notorious corrupt politicians.
The World Bank is a major financier of Lebanon’s coronavirus campaign and has approved $ 34 million to pay for 2 million people’s vaccines. The suspension of his aid would have serious consequences for the cash-strapped government, which is going through an unprecedented financial and economic crisis and is relying on foreign aid.
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 and the Red Sickle Companies have signed an agreement for the independent monitoring of 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 many violations that have taken place at vaccination centers,” said Sharaf Abu Sharaf, president of the Lebanese Order of Doctors. He said the offenses included vaccinating people who were not registered or who were not included in the first phase of the campaign.
Lebanese expected the explosion of vaccines to be riddled with corruption and transgression, but news of the vaccination of lawmakers as a political group in a building used by lawmakers provoked new anger among the country’s population on Monday. .
Abdul Rahman Bizri, who heads the committee overseeing the vaccination campaign, planned to resign on Tuesday in protest, but later changed his mind and said his committee would hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter. to follow up.
He demands 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 required people to take the shots at predetermined centers without benefiting from it, adding that he had the matter with the regional director of the World Bank before holding the news conference.
‘Everyone has to register and wait their turn! #nowasta, ”the World Bank’s regional bank director, Saroj Kumar Jha, tweeted earlier. He used a Lebanese term, meaning that there may be no nepotism.
Adnan Daher, secretary general of parliament, is quoted by state media as denying that the 16 lawmakers have jumped the line, prioritizing medical workers and residents over 75 years old. Daher said all the legislators who received a vaccination registered and were properly aligned.
Some of the legislators who were vaccinated on Tuesday are younger than 75, according to names leaked to local media, including the deputy speaker of parliament, Elie Ferzli, who is 71. Ferzli said in a tweet that he registered in late January to take the vaccine.
In January, the Lebanese government launched a digital coronavirus vaccination registration platform for residents of the country.
Later on Tuesday, a statement was issued by the presidency that President Michel Aoun, 86, as well as his wife and ten people from their area, also receive their vaccinations in accordance with the online vaccination platform.
The World Bank “may suspend vaccine funding and support for COVID19 reactions across Lebanon !!” Jha tweeted earlier Tuesday. “I appeal to everyone, I mean everyone, regardless of your position, to please register and wait your turn.”
Jha said that 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 fair and equitable vaccination.”
Lebanon, a country of 6 million people, including one million Syrian refugees, has registered more than 356,000 cases of coronavirus and 4,387 deaths since the first case was registered in February last year.
A recent increase in cases has overwhelmed hospitals already struggling to cope amid the severe financial crisis in the country.