Israel’s vaccination campaign and the older priorities for the elderly, as well as refugees and foreign workers, are commendable and deserve national pride.
But with him – and us – are the Palestinians, who are also veterans and at risk and who cannot get the vaccine.
Palestinians at a crossroads near Jerusalem
(Photo: IDF Speaker Unit)
The pandemic coronavirus does not know national borders or weapons checkpoints and the Palestinians have seen a dramatic increase in diseases and deaths.
According to the World Health Organization, on Sunday the Palestinian Authority had recorded 120,125 cases and 1,302 deaths.
The Palestinian Authority’s health system is highly chaotic and lacks manpower and resources, relying on support from Israel and foreign and humanitarian agencies to keep it going.
With the help of the United Nations Covax program, which helps low- and middle-income countries with vaccine supply, the Palestinian Authority may be able to vaccinate 20% of its population.
It is time for Israel to show concern and help the Palestinians in their vaccination effort.
Despite the basic fact that Israel controls all points of entry into the Palestinian Authority, it affects its ability to obtain vaccine behavior (by those who have been approval for emergency use requiring cooling), Jerusalem also restricts Ramallah to receiving vaccines only approved by the Ministry of Health.
Palestinian health worker tests coronavirus for worker returning from Israel to West Bank
(Photo: EPA)
This prevents Palestinians from getting cheaper vaccines like the Chinese or Russian versions and makes it harder to pay the most expensive ones made by Moderna and Pfizer.
Intimacy and equality are the most fundamental values in public health in general and vaccines in particular.
Good health and inoculations are a public product, regardless of origin or place of residence.
It is hard to imagine just how sad images of Palestinians would become increasingly ill and dying from COVID-19 while all Israeli citizens were vaccinated, including at-risk groups low.
Israel has never moved away from its commitment to universal health care. It should be commended for helping victims of natural disasters around the world and how casualties were treated in the Syrian Civil War in its hospitals.
A health care worker talks to an Israeli Arab woman before giving her the COVID-19 vaccine
(Photo: AFP)
Despite the fact that Syria was a hostile state, its citizens were taken to Israel to receive equal treatment that not only saved lives but improved their overall health, which ‘help with rehabilitation and even illnesses.
If we can commit ourselves to helping the citizens of an enemy state, it is incumbent on us to do the same for our Palestinian neighbors.
Coronavirus ward at a field hospital in Gaza city of Rafah
It is a humanitarian effort to help the Palestinians fulfill their right to vital treatment that will help both themselves and Israel achieve the “common defense” that is essential for their lives. protection of those who have not yet been vaccinated, including children and people with severe allergies.
Coronavirus does not ask anyone where they are from before introducing them and it certainly does not stop for weapons checkpoints.
Palestinians arrive in Israel to work and Israelis travel to the West Bank to buy, a movement that connects the epidemiological fate of the two peoples.
Dr. Shelly Kamin-Friedman is a lawyer and expert in medical and public health law. She is the author of the policy paper ‘Right to Vaccine’ from the Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights and the Physicians’ Group for Human Rights