Israel to provide 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Palestinians under sharing deal

Israel will provide around one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the Palestinian Authority ahead of their expiry, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office in a joint statement with the defence and health ministries said, the vaccines are being sent under a sharing deal with Palestine, to boost the vaccination campaign in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Under the terms of the deal, Israel will receive in return a reciprocal number of doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the Palestinian Authority, later this year.

Around 55% of eligible Israelis are fully vaccinated - a turnout largely unchanged by this month's expansion of eligibility to include 12- to 15-year-olds.

Some 30% of eligible Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have received at least one vaccine dose, according to Palestinian officials.

The Palestinians have received vaccine doses from Israel, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and the global COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative.