Confusion in the vaccination process in Palestine

Jerusalem24 – After the arrival of a very limited number of doses of the American Moderna vaccine and the Russian Sputnik, the Ministry of Health announced the start of vaccinating the medical staff who are considered the first frontline, but after a long wait for the arrival of the vaccine to be like the countries of the world, it seems that the vaccines have disappeared  in the sky of favoritism, mismanagement and lack of thoughtful planning.

Meanwhile, news spread that some journalists and some officials had received the vaccine -That is, individuals who are not targeted at this stage – Government Spokesman Ibrahim Melhem replied at the special press conference held on Tuesday, justifying that by “This happens in many countries in the world.”

For his part, the Executive Director of “Aman Essam Al-Hajj Hussein” appealed to the government through Jerusalem24 to be clear and frank with the people, even with regard to challenges, financial crises, and logistical difficulties in transporting the vaccine, and for the Ministry of Health to publish a clear plan regarding the vaccination process.

He also pointed out that the absence of a clear and transparent plan will lead to the waste of public money, and the distribution of these limited quantities to groups that are not in urgent need, increases the burden on the medical staff and the Ministry of Health’s budget. In addition to the spread of the favoritism phenomenon at the expense of those who have the right of priority, and “unfortunately this leads to an increase in the gap of mistrust between the people and the government, which affects society and destroys its fabric due to hatred and class division not to mention that the loss of the accountability mechanism will increase the abuse of positions and that will continue to spread confusion in the society. ”

In the same context, the media official at the Syndicate of Journalists, Omar Nazzal, in his talk to Jerusalem24 stated that the process of distributing vaccines must be in accordance with precise standards and priorities set by the Ministry of Health and the need to adhere to these standards, noting that the quantities are limited.

He also indicated that any vaccination process contrary to priorities, including journalists, is a violation of the principle of justice and priorities in the distribution process, even if the aforementioned excuse is “encouragement”, which is unconvincing justifications and a defect for which the Ministry of Health bears responsibility.

In conclusion, Omar Nazzal called on journalists and others to review their conscience before receiving the vaccine, because every vaccine that is taken is at the expense of the person most in need.

After a great conflict in the dates for receiving vaccines and changing them several times, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said in the government statement last Monday “Last week, we announced the start of the vaccination process for citizens in the middle of this February, after the completion of the vaccination of health personnel, but a delay occurred in the arrival of the required quantities of vaccine, which led to the delay of the date until a later time that will be announced upon our receipt of the quantities of the multi-source vaccines, which will include vaccination of most people with chronic diseases and the elderly”.

And so far the date of  the arrival and receipt of vaccines is still not specified.