February 28, 2021
Dear Dr. Fauci,
We are writing to you as “fans” of your work. As health professionals, we so often found ourselves appreciative and relieved by your calm steady voice during the Trumpian chaos, bravely, stubbornly standing up for science and public health, truly a monumental task. Thank you. Thank you.
We understand that you stay above the fray by refusing to engage in bruising political fights. Ironically, public health, by nature, lives at that intersection between health care and politics. Just think of your involvement in HIV/AIDS research and treatment.
You have said, for this pandemic to be defeated, everyone must be vaccinated, that is the nature of conquering a highly infectious disease. Yet we are faced with massive global inequities, countries – particularly in the global south – where there is no vaccine at all, while first world countries scoop up the vaccine supply as their disadvantaged populations and people of color struggle for access. A
Palestinian doctors receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the Ministry of Health, in Gaza City, on February 22, 2021. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
Editor’s Note: The following statement was issued on February 19, 2021 by the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council.
Mondoweiss occasionally publishes press releases and statements from organizations in an effort to draw attention to overlooked issues.
Israel Must Assume its Legal and Moral Obligation to Provide COVID-19 Vaccines to the Palestinian Population in the West Bank and Gaza
Statement by the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council
The Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council (JVP HAC) issues this statement of urgent concern for the health of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza during the COVID-19 pandemic. Israel holds a legal and moral obligation to assure full and equitable COVID vaccine distribution to the Palestinian health authorities in the West Bank and Gaz