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MENA Countries Raise Vaccine Equity Issues
A resident of east Jerusalem receives a vaccine shot against the coronavirus at a local clinic. (Ray Crystal/The Media Line)

MENA Countries Raise Vaccine Equity Issues

Jordan calls for a more even distribution of the vaccine while Egypt struggles to vaccinate its poor

Vaccine equity has had an impact on the Middle East and North Africa region in opposing ways.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on March 9 called out Egypt for placing additional obstacles in the path of obtaining a vaccine against the coronavirus for poorer individuals. The following day, Jordan called for more equitable vaccine distribution, against the backdrop of being one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate refugees.

HRW demanded that Egypt make the COVID-19 vaccine available to all its citizens after the government hinted that Egyptians might have to pay for the inoculation, or go through a bureaucratic process to get approval for a free vaccine.

The fee for the jab would be approximately $6 a dose, which is financially out of reach for much of the country’s population.

“Charging impoverished Egyptians for a critical vaccine goes against the fundamental human right to health and reflects the government’s distorted priorities,” Amr Magdi, Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “To effectively fight the pandemic, Egypt should expand vaccine access by making it affordable and accessible for all, including making it freely available where needed.”

Over in Amman, Jordan’s King Abdullah called for more equitable vaccine access across the world, bolstered by the initiative his country took in getting vaccines to Jordan’s substantial refugee population starting in January.

“Once again Jordan has shown exemplary leadership and solidarity in hosting refugees. The country has included refugees in every aspect of the public health response to the pandemic, including the national vaccination campaign, proving how it should be done if we are to keep everyone safe,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a UNHCR statement at the time.

In neighboring Israel, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday that it became the first military in the world to fully vaccinate its soldiers.

Additionally, after reopening bars and restaurants on Sunday, March 7, Israel gave its 5 millionth COVID-19 vaccination shot the next day. Meanwhile, on Monday Israel began inoculating the 120,000 Palestinians who work legally in Israel and in West Bank settlements.

The Saudi Press Agency reported the same day that, over in Riyadh, the country’s minister of commerce approved a program allowing commercial establishments to reduce prices for shoppers who had received the vaccine against the coronavirus, in an effort to boost vaccination rates. The Saudi Gazette reported March 9 that over 1.5 million people have been vaccinated in the kingdom.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 3 pm Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) on Thursday.

Country Confirmed Cases Deaths Recovered Active Cases
Afghanistan 55,901 2,451 49,499 3,951
Algeria 114,681 3,026 79,428 32,227
Bahrain 128,428 476 121,776 6,176
Cyprus 38,065 235 2,057 35,773
Djibouti 6,227 63 5,950 214
Egypt 188,361 11,128 145,418 31,815
Iran 1,723,470 61,016 1,471,179 191,275
Iraq 745,642 13,671 674,345 57,626
Israel 812,823 5,955 770,156 36,712
Jordan 448,851 5,106 379,305 64,440
Kuwait 204,388 1,144 189,155 14,089
Lebanon 405,407 5,180 318,800 81,427
Libya 142,671 2,340 129,706 10,625
Mauritania 17,385 442 16,736 207
Morocco 487,286 8,705 473,738 4,843
Oman 145,257 1,600 135,227 8,430
Pakistan 597,497 13,377 566,493 17,627
Palestinian Territories 203,669 2,211 181,452 20,006
Qatar 168,829 264 157,242 11,323
Saudi Arabia 381,348 6,551 371,850 2,947
Somalia 8,713 327 4,054 4,332
Sudan 28,766 1,915 23,268 3,583
Syria 16,187 1,079 10,625 4,483
Tunisia 239,368 8,292 205,719 25,357
Turkey 2,821,943 29,227 2,649,862 142,854
United Arab Emirates 419,996 1,369 399,803 18,824
Yemen 2,627 661 1,452 514
Total 10,553,786 187,811 9,534,295 831,680

 

Steven Ganot contributed to this report.

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