Updated On: 19 June, 2021 07:44 AM IST | Jerusalem | Agencies
They will be given to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for doses it will get this year

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Friday at Auckland. Pic/AFP
Israel said Friday it will transfer around 1 million doses of soon-to-expire coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a similar number of doses the Palestinians expect to receive later this year.
Israel, which has reopened after vaccinating some 85% of its adult population, has faced criticism for not sharing its vaccines with the 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The agreement was announced by the new Israeli government that was sworn in on Sunday. It said it would transfer Pfizer vaccines that will expire soon, and that the PA would transfer a similar number of vaccines when it receives them from the pharmaceutical company In September or October.