The Palestinian Authority announced on Friday (February 19) an agreement with Israel to vaccinate some 100,000 Palestinians working in Israeli territory against Covid-19, where a vast vaccination campaign is being carried out.
"
A meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli ministries of health has taken place to seek to limit the spread of the new variants of the coronavirus,
" the Palestinian ministry said in a statement.
"
It has been agreed to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinians working in Israel
."
Read also: In Israel, vaccination is pushing back the epidemic
The ministry did not specify the start of this vaccination campaign and the criteria on the basis of which the workers would be chosen.
Asked by AFP, the Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm this agreement.
Israel's health ministry only confirmed in a statement a meeting was held in Ramallah, where senior officials were briefed by their Palestinian counterparts on the local health situation and visited a hospital.
"
Impact on the morbidity of Israelis
"
He said he was aware of the fact that Israel and the Palestinians share a common geographic reality and that the spread of the virus in the Palestinian territory "
can have an impact on the morbidity of the Israelis
".
At the start of the pandemic, an agreement banned the passage of Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank, forcing those who wanted to continue working to stay on the Israeli side.
According to a Palestinian official, thousands of workers chose to stay in Israel, where wages are higher.
If in Israel, 47% of the population has received a first dose of vaccine, vaccination has so far only taken place with medical personnel on the Palestinian side.
Read also: In Israel, the spectacular vaccination campaign shows encouraging signs of effectiveness
The Palestinian Authority launched its campaign in early February after receiving 2,000 doses from the Hebrew state and it was to receive at least 50,000 other vaccines in mid-February thanks to the UN “
Covax
” aid to the poorest countries.
She also received 10,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and had indicated her intention to share some of it with Palestinians in Gaza.
A first batch was transferred to the Israeli blockaded enclave this week.
In Israel, more than 744,500 patients have officially been identified, of which around 5,530 have died.
On the Palestinian side, 117,530 infected people were detected, including around 1,420 deaths in the occupied West Bank, and 54,180 sick, including around 540 deaths in Gaza.