The Palestinians on Friday have expressed anger and called for a public inquiry into a vaccine exchange deal between Israel's government and the Palestinian Authority, which the latter called off at the last minute.
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Israel said Friday it would transfer around 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a similar number of doses the Palestinians expect to receive later this year. But Ramallah called off an agreement hours after the deal was announced.
The Palestinians said the doses, which Israel began shipping to the West Bank, are too close to expiring and do not meet their standards. In announcing the agreement, Israel had said the vaccines "will expire soon" without specifying the date.
Palestinian officials had come under heavy criticism on social media after the agreement was announced, with many accusing them of accepting subpar vaccines and suggesting they might not be effective. Public anger mounted across the West Bank after the news broke, with some Palestinians denouncing the deal as a "scandal" that endangered people's lives.
The Palestinians portrayed the agreement differently, saying Pfizer had suggested the transfer as a way of speeding up its delivery of four million doses that the PA had already paid for in an agreement reached directly with the drug company.
"This is not an agreement with Israel, but with the Pfizer company," Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said earlier Friday, before the deal was called off.
At a press conference Friday evening, she said health officials who inspected the vaccines found they "did not meet standards and so we decided to return them," citing their alleged close expiration date.
Ramallah's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh ordered the cancellation of the agreement and the return of the vaccines to Israel, his spokesman said.
The PA has said it is acquiring its own supplies through agreements with private companies and a World Health Organization program designed to aid needy countries.
To date, around 380,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and around 50,000 in Gaza have been vaccinated. More than 300,000 infections have been recorded in the two territories, including 3,545 deaths.
Israeli Health Ministry officials told Israel Hayom over the weekend that they will still try to see the deal through, saying that most likely the exchange was being halted over internal Palestinian political reasons – not the doses' expiration date.
A statement by the ministry adamantly rejected the claims about the validity of the vaccines, saying, "The vaccine shipment we sought to deliver to the Palestinian Authority was perfectly fine. The Palestinian Health Ministry received delivery of valid Pfizer vaccines with known expiration dates, as agreed upon in advance.
"We stress that the vaccines delivered to the Palestinian were identical to ones currently used to immunize Israelis. We hope the PA begins its vaccination campaign soon," the ministry's statement said.
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