BEIRUT (AP) – The World Bank on Tuesday threatened to suspend funding for coronavirus vaccines in Lebanon as it investigated suspected favoritism amid allegations that lawmakers had been vaccinated in parliament without prior approval.
A top Lebanese official who oversaw the vaccine’s release called it “outrageous” and threatened to resign amid a social media outcry by Lebanese who deeply distrust their notoriously corrupt politicians.
The World Bank is a major financier of the Lebanese coronavirus campaign and has approved $ 34 million to pay for vaccines for 2 million people. Suspending its aid would have serious consequences for the government’s lack of money, which is experiencing an unprecedented financial and economic crisis and is dependent on foreign aid.
The vaccination campaign began on February 14, and Lebanon has received nearly 60,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to date.
The World Bank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have signed an agreement for independent monitoring of the coronavirus vaccination campaign in Lebanon. Decades of corruption and mismanagement have brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy and collapse.
“Many violations took place in vaccination centers,” said Sharaf Abu Sharaf, president of the Lebanese Order of Physicians. He said the violations also included vaccinating people who were not registered or included in the first phase of the campaign.
The Lebanese had expected the vaccine rollout to be riddled with corruption and violations, but news of the vaccination of lawmakers as a political group in a building used by the legislature sparked new outrage among the population of the country on Monday.
Abdul Rahman Bizri, who heads the committee overseeing the vaccination campaign, planned to resign in protest on Tuesday, but later changed his mind, saying his committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday to follow up on the matter.
He demanded an explanation from the legislator.
“What happened today is outrageous and should not be repeated,” Bizri said. “There is no political priority.”
Bizri said the national vaccination plan requires people to take the photos in predetermined centers without favoritism, adding that before holding the press conference, he discussed the matter with the World Bank’s regional director.
“Everyone has to register and wait their turn! #nowasta, ”World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha tweeted earlier. He used a Lebanese term that meant there should be no favoritism.
Parliament’s Secretary General Adnan Daher was quoted by the state media as denying that the 16 lawmakers had jumped the line, prioritizing medical personnel and residents over 75. Daher said all lawmakers who received a vaccination registered and properly complied.
Some of the lawmakers vaccinated on Tuesday are under the age of 75, according to names leaked to local media, including Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elie Ferzli, who is 71. Ferzli said in a tweet that he registered to take the vaccine in late January.
In January, the government of Lebanon launched a digital registration platform for coronavirus vaccination for residents of the country.
Later on Tuesday, a statement from the presidency said President Michel Aoun, 86, as well as his wife and 10 people close to them, also received their vaccines in accordance with the online vaccination platform.
The World Bank “May Suspend Vaccine Funding and Support for COVID19 Response Across Lebanon !!” Jha tweeted earlier Tuesday. “I appeal to everyone, I mean everyone, regardless of your position, to please register and wait your turn.”
Jha said the vaccination plan “is not in line with the national plan” agreed with the World Bank and “we would register it as a violation of the terms agreed with us for fair and equitable vaccination.”
Lebanon, a country of 6 million people, including one million Syrian refugees, has recorded more than 356,000 coronavirus cases and 4,387 deaths since the first case was recorded in February last year.
A recent increase in the number of cases has overwhelmed the hospitals already struggling to cope amid the country’s severe financial crisis.