Middle East countries set to benefit from Biden’s global vaccine initiative
A US State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor that hard-hit Iran will not be receiving doses at this time.
The Biden administration has promised to send coronavirus vaccine doses to the Palestinian territories, Iraq and several other countries in the Middle East.
The plan is to share around 6 million doses with countries including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor on Wednesday.
The vaccine-sharing regimen is part of the initial 25 million doses being distributed among 80 million in total the administration has pledged to donate.
There is a demonstrable need for more vaccine doses in these areas. The Palestinian Authority has received some vaccine doses, but not enough to vaccinate most of its population. Earlier this year, some accused Israel of being responsible for the relatively much slower vaccination campaign in the Palestinian territories vis-a-vis within Israel. Yemen is in throes of a harrowing civil war, making its population particularly susceptible to the virus. Iraq also needs more doses to vaccinate its population of roughly 40 million people, and has administered around 667,000 doses so far. Jordan, despite being a relatively stable state, is also lagging behind some other countries in the Middle East.
