Palestine cancels Pfizer vax exchange deal with Israel

Ramallah: Palestinian authorities have announced the cancellation of an agreement with Israel and the Pfizer company on exchanging Covid-19 vaccines with the Jewish state as it did not match the specifications.

Spokesman of the Palestinian government Ibrahim Milhem said in a statement on Friday that Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye instructed Health Minister Mai al-Kaila to inform both Israel and Pfizer that the agreement has been cancelled, reports Xinhua news agency.

The vaccines Palestine received earlier in the day from the Israeli side will also be sent back, the spokesman added.

Al-Kaila explained that the Health Ministry's specialists had found out that the vaccines received earlier from Israel didn't match the specifications.

"So we decided to send back all the vaccines we received earlier today from the Israeli side," she said.

On Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said it recorded three fatalities and 165 new Covid-19 cases in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, adding that it recorded 453 recoveries.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus in Palestine, 3,813 people have died from the virus, while 341,175 cases had been recorded.

The Ministry said that 436,275 Palestinians had already been vaccinated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.