Israel's Vaccine Response

Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination roll out has shown to significantly reduce infection rates inside of the country. The reduction has been found to be most significant within older people, and areas where they’ve made the most effort to roll out vaccinations. This suggests that it is the vaccine and not the country’s current lockdown taking effect. Israeli Ministry of Health figures show that only 531 over-60s, out of almost 750,000 fully vaccinated tested positive for coronavirus (0.07%), with far fewer becoming hospitalised with moderate to critical disease. Only 38 people have been hospitalised, a tiny proportion.



However, while more than a quarter of Israel’s population of 9 million have received at least 1 dose, the Palestinian Territories remain significantly behind.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health - which operates in the West Bank - said in a statement that they are doing deals with four companies that will provide enough vaccine for 70% of its people, although it's not clear when they will arrive.

A delivery of 5,000 Russian-made vaccine doses is also expected, in addition to the 5,000 doses which Israel says it is giving to the Palestinians. There have also been reports of Hamas getting vaccines from the Gulf state of Qatar.

The United Nations (UN) human rights body has released a statement saying it's Israel's responsibility to provide equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is due to international law laid out by the Geneva Conventions, regulating occupied territories.



However, the Israeli health minister, Yuli Edelstein, told the BBC: "We can also look into the so-called Oslo agreements where it says loud and clear that the Palestinians have to take care of their own health.”

Experts say the fourth Geneva Convention is specific about the duty of the occupying power to provide healthcare, but Israel often argues it isn't technically occupying the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the Palestinian Territories Which has left the territories economically crippled, with no available electricity for half of the day and without proper healthcare to help its civilians. As Israel patrols the waters outside of the Gaza Strip to make sure that items can’t be smuggled through its blockade, the only places Palestine can get support from are its borders with Egypt and through illegal tunnels.

As Palestine is left with barely any choices but to rely on Israel to have the ability to vaccinate all of its people, some people may think it’s unfair that Israel prioritises itself over Palestine for its vaccine response.