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Palestinian vaccine-gate investigation report out

The independent report about the deal between the Palestinian government and Israel that led to the PA's receipt of expired vaccines has been finalized and made public with leads on incompetence and oversight.

A worker unloads a refrigerated truck carrying the first delivery of the coronavirus vaccine via the United Nations Covax program, to be kept at the Palestinian Authority's storage facility in Nablus, West Bank, March 17, 2021.
A worker unloads a refrigerated truck carrying the first delivery of the coronavirus vaccine via the United Nations Covax program, to be kept at the Palestinian Authority's storage facility in Nablus, West Bank, March 17, 2021. — Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

An independent investigation committee charged with examining the modalities of a botched Palestinian-Israeli agreement to provide Palestinians with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has produced a scathing report that reflects incompetence by the Palestinian Health Ministry and government officials.

The committee headed by Ammar Dwaik, CEO of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, and his team of professionals presented Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh with a 30-page 7-annex report that detailed the problem and offered concrete recommendations.

According to the report, the state of Palestine had secured an excellent agreement with Pfizer signed in April and approved by the Palestinian Cabinet: The agreement provided over 4 million shots of the needed vaccines for a very low cost of $6.75 per shot.

However, because the delivery dates of the different tranches of the vaccine were not immediate, an offer was made to take some of the unused Pfizer vaccines from Israel, which would have provided a quicker availability of the badly needed vaccine.

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