Israel will start vaccinating Palestinian workers on Sunday
Immunizations for some 120,000 Palestinians legally employed in Israel will be administered by Israeli healthcare workers at West Bank crossings, industrial zones
Israel on Sunday will begin its campaign to vaccinate some 120,000 Palestinians who are legally employed in Israel and West Bank settlements, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians announced Wednesday.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said it will roll out the immunization campaign at checkpoints and industrial zones across the West Bank. The government approved the plan on Sunday.
Around 87,000 Palestinians hold work permits in Israel, and an additional 35,000 work in Israeli settlements, according to Defense Ministry figures.
Twelve dedicated vaccination complexes will be initially set up for the campaign, COGAT said — eight for those employed in Israel and four for those employed in the West Bank — with Israeli healthcare workers administering the shots. More centers may be opened later.
Palestinian workers will be eligible to receive the shots upon appointment and with the presentation of a valid employment permit.
The administration of the first doses of the two-shot vaccine will be done within two weeks, COGAT said, with the centers later opening for an additional two weeks to give the second dose.
A pilot of the program will take place on Thursday, COGAT said.
While Israel has surged ahead in vaccinating its population — over half of all Israelis have received at least one dose of a coronavirus shot — only scattered shipments of vaccines have reached the Palestinians so far. The Palestinian Authority expects to begin its public vaccination campaign in early March with the arrival of a major shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines.
Israel has come under criticism for not vaccinating Palestinians, many of whom live under Israeli military rule. Human rights groups charge that international law requires Israel as an occupying power to provide vaccines for Palestinians.
Israel rejects the characterization that it occupies Palestinian territory, deeming the West Bank “disputed.” Israeli officials have also pointed to bilateral agreements between Israel and the Palestinians which designate responsibility for health care to the Palestinian Authority.
But current and former health officials have also repeatedly said that helping Palestinians get vaccines — especially Palestinians who work in Israel — is a public health priority for the Jewish state, as they regularly mix with Israelis.
“The message is very simple: We are one epidemiological unit. As much as we can, we have to help them address this matter,” former Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov told The Times of Israel recently.
After public pressure and calls for greater transparency, the Palestinian Authority acknowledged Tuesday that some of the few COVID-19 vaccines in its possession did not go to healthcare workers, but rather to government officials, the Jordanian royal court and the Palestinian national soccer team.
The announcement sparked outrage among Palestinians, who are currently seeing a major surge in coronavirus cases in the West Bank.
The West Bank has plunged into a third wave of coronavirus in recent days. Since the beginning of February, the number of active cases in the West Bank has more than tripled to 12,897. Around 24 percent of coronavirus tests came back positive across the West Bank over the past day, the PA said on Wednesday.
In response to the stark rise in cases, the PA has enacted a partial lockdown in the West Bank for the next 12 days, closing schools and banning travel.
