Why Covid-19 vaccine in Israel is being criticized as “Quick Response”

Tel Aviv: As 2020 drew to a close, Israel went ahead with its ambitious inoculation drive, overtaking many Western nations, even preferring the United Kingdom, which had begun the process weeks before. But now, Israel’s plans are being criticized by rights groups that say the inoculation drive violates human rights, except for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

What were Israel’s plans?

After receiving the coronavirus vaccine by President Benjamin Netanyahu on December 20, 2020, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement, “If everyone is vaccinated early, we will restore life to the normalcy we knew early on, Especially the economy. We will invest more resources and efforts to fix what was. We need your help; It depends on all of us. ”

Israel’s ambitious inoculation plans include a nearly 24 × seven process, with priority being given to health workers and other high-risk groups given their first dose of the Pfizer / Biotech vaccine. Netanyahu’s statement said, “If everyone follows the rules and strictly follows the rules, then we will emerge from it, and there is a great possibility that Israel will be the first country in the world.”

This comes months after Israel saw a spike in the Kovid-19 transition in September and October 2020. The government was forced to consider a second nationwide shut down after its first implementation in spring last year.

Why is it being criticized?

According to a report, Israeli immunization plans do not include Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The ReliefWeb, a humanitarian information portal under the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), issued a joint statement with other international organizations, urging Israel to “perform its legal obligations.”

To emphasize the statement in Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that Israel was obliged to follow the “adoption of prophylactic and preventive measures” necessary to combat the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics. Emphasized.

Israeli residents living and working in the West Bank are being involved in this campaign. Still, Palestinians in the region may have to wait longer for vaccines under the COVAX facility, a global led WHO Initiative that provides the Kovid-19 vaccine to vulnerable communities. According to a Guardian report, vaccines in Palestinian territories may only be available by the middle of 2021, with the initiative promising to immunize 20 percent of Palestinians.

How will this affect the region?

However, Israel is racing to reduce its population, with about 150,000 people being vaccinated per day, a process that could be slowed down as the number of Palestinians who work outside the West Bank daily and Israel’s Number of people who work in Palestinian territories. Suppose only one class of residents were deactivated. In that case, the number of others could increase, as the number of infections would continue to grow by throwing a moat in Israel’s inoculation plans. Israel has a population of close to nine million.

What does politics involve?

The Palestinian Authority has not sought any official help from Israel regarding the vaccine. “Until this moment, there has been no agreement, and we cannot say that anything on the ground is practical in this regard,” said Ali Abed Rabbo, director-general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Initial news reports suggested that Israel would provide surplus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority. But news reports also quoted Israeli officials as saying that they are not responsible for the immunization of Palestinians under the provisions of the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, stating that the Palestinian National Authority is responsible for the health care of all Palestinians.

But rights groups have rejected this argument and called on international stakeholders to urge Israel to fulfill its “duties and moral responsibilities to assist Palestinian health systems and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”