Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the financial capacity of the Palestinian Ministry of Health to purchase sufficient covid-19 vaccines for its population.

We remain in regular, close contact with the Palestinian Authority to discuss their plans for access to safe COVID-19 vaccines in the OPTs including on their ability to finance the purchase of vaccines.

The UK is committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines as demonstrated by our commitment of up to £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. Our commitment to the COVAX AMC will support access to COVID-19 vaccines for up to 92 developing countries, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by contributing to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021. We are pleased to note that the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) will be among the first to benefit from the COVAX scheme with delivery of a first batch anticipated in mid-February.