Israel will vaccinate Palestinian labourers who work in Israel and in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Israel’s military said on Sunday. The move comes as Israel has faced pressure to vaccinate Palestinians who live under Israeli control.
The program was approved on Sunday by Israel’s political leaders and will begin in the coming days, according to the arm of Israel’s defence ministry that co-ordinates with the Palestinians.
Israel is running the world’s fastest vaccine drive, with more than 50 per cent of its population receiving one shot of the vaccine and more than one-third fully inoculated, almost exclusively with the Pfizer vaccine.
The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority has been much slower than Israel in organising a vaccination campaign, and it will mostly rely on the Covax program led by the World Health Organisation under which it will receive vaccines for 60 per cent of its population.
Israel will establish vaccination sites at crossings between Israel and the West Bank and in industrial zones in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Israeli medical teams will operate the program and will administer Moderna vaccines to those with Israeli work papers.
According to a security official, 87,000 Palestinians have permits to work in Israel and 35,000 have permits to work in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Read the article by Felicia Schwartz in The Australian (from The Wall Street Journal).