Zionist Regime Postpones COVID Vaccine Roll-Out to Palestinians
WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The occupying regime of Israel says it is postponing until further notice plans to administer COVID vaccinations to Palestinians who work inside the occupied territories and in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
COGAT, the Zionist regime’s military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, had last week confirmed that the COVID vaccination drive had "been approved by the political echelon”.
The announcement was confirmed by the Palestinian Authority who said it had reached an agreement with the occupying regime that would see 100,000 Palestinian workers vaccinated.
But COGAT on Friday announced a postponement which it attributed to "administrative delays,” saying that a new start for the campaign would be determined at a later time.
The inoculation drive was supposed to begin on Sunday at West Bank crossings into the occupied territories and at industrial zones.
Such inoculations could have assuaged criticism of the occupying regime for not sharing significant amounts of its COVID vaccine stockpiles with Palestinians living under the regime’s occupation in the West Bank and those in the Gaza Strip.
The Zionist regime had also announced plans to share surplus vaccines with far-flung allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, but the decision was frozen by legal questions.
Some 100,000 Palestinian laborers from the West Bank work in the occupied territories. The PA had acquired enough doses for only 6,000 of its people – meaning the vast majority of the estimated five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will remain unvaccinated.
The West Bank was placed under new restrictive measures last week to curb the surge in infections.
In another development, head of the American multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer cancelled his scheduled visit to the occupied territories so the trip could coincide with the regime’s upcoming elections.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, announced on Friday that the next week’s trip to the territories had been postponed claiming he and his delegation had not been fully immunized against COVID-19.
Pfizer confirmed Thursday that the planned visit had been postponed for several days, but when pressed to confirm the reason for the cancellation, it declined to comment.
The Pfizer’s CEO was set to arrive in the occupied territories on March 8, just 15 days before the March 23 election, in which Netanyahu is scrambling to gain enough support at a time the occupying regime is severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
COGAT, the Zionist regime’s military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, had last week confirmed that the COVID vaccination drive had "been approved by the political echelon”.
The announcement was confirmed by the Palestinian Authority who said it had reached an agreement with the occupying regime that would see 100,000 Palestinian workers vaccinated.
But COGAT on Friday announced a postponement which it attributed to "administrative delays,” saying that a new start for the campaign would be determined at a later time.
The inoculation drive was supposed to begin on Sunday at West Bank crossings into the occupied territories and at industrial zones.
Such inoculations could have assuaged criticism of the occupying regime for not sharing significant amounts of its COVID vaccine stockpiles with Palestinians living under the regime’s occupation in the West Bank and those in the Gaza Strip.
The Zionist regime had also announced plans to share surplus vaccines with far-flung allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, but the decision was frozen by legal questions.
Some 100,000 Palestinian laborers from the West Bank work in the occupied territories. The PA had acquired enough doses for only 6,000 of its people – meaning the vast majority of the estimated five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will remain unvaccinated.
The West Bank was placed under new restrictive measures last week to curb the surge in infections.
In another development, head of the American multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer cancelled his scheduled visit to the occupied territories so the trip could coincide with the regime’s upcoming elections.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, announced on Friday that the next week’s trip to the territories had been postponed claiming he and his delegation had not been fully immunized against COVID-19.
Pfizer confirmed Thursday that the planned visit had been postponed for several days, but when pressed to confirm the reason for the cancellation, it declined to comment.
The Pfizer’s CEO was set to arrive in the occupied territories on March 8, just 15 days before the March 23 election, in which Netanyahu is scrambling to gain enough support at a time the occupying regime is severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.