#IWD

South Korea remembers 'comfort women' on International Women's Day



Former South Korean comfort woman like Lee Yong-soo and others were remembered in a statement from President Moon Jae-in on International Women's Day on Monday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo


March 8 (UPI) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in observed International Women's Day with a statement that included a reference to former Korean "comfort women" forced to serve in Japanese wartime brothels, as the two Koreas observed the U.N.-designated day.

Moon, who promised reform before assuming office in 2017, said Monday he was "thinking about modern Korean history in which women, including the now elderly comfort women victims, had harder lives."

"I have respect for all women who worked resolutely to raise their status," Moon said.

The issue of comfort women systemically raped in Japanese military outposts has dogged relations between Seoul and Tokyo. Moon has called for better relations with Japan, but recent controversies, including an article from a Harvard Law professor, have reignited outrage in South Korea.

RELATED U.S., South Korea reach military cost-sharing agreement


Moon's statement also addressed persistent gender inequalities in the country, which has consistently received relatively low marks for gender equality by the World Economic Forum.

"Korea is at an embarrassingly low level in this field," Moon said.

Moon's critical evaluation of the status of women in South Korea contrasted with a North Korean statement on the global day of observance.

Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun urged North Korean women to "fulfill their revolutionary duty" as would-be "inheritors of a proud tradition of patriotic devotion."

"Only when women actively fight for the country's prosperity can the whole society become full of vitality and greater results can be achieved in the construction of socialism," the Rodong said in an article that did not address the condition of women in North Korea.

Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho said on Facebook on Monday International Women's Day is a day when men offer presents to North Korean women.

Thae, now a lawmaker in the South, also said he had "forgotten" about International Women's Day after "eating the meal my wife prepared and wore the clothes she pressed" before heading to work.

In North Korea "International Women's Day is a day when men try to make a good impression on female colleagues," Thae said.


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Fireball meteor streaks across night sky over UK

‘Incredibly rare’ meteorite recovered after Gloucestershire fireball believed to be first of its kind in UK


Extra-terrestrial rock could provide answers about early history of Solar System and what planets are made from

Shweta Sharma@Ss22Shweta
3/9/2021


The first meteorite rocks have been recovered in Gloucestershire after they dropped to the ground from the dazzling fireball that was sighted over the UK and northern Europe at the end of last month.

The black space rocks, the largest piece of which weighs nearly 300g and crashed down on a driveway in the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe, have been taken to the Natural History Museum in London for further study.


Scientists are particularly excited because the rock, likely to become known as the Winchcombe Meteorite, is made of carbonaceous chondrite, a mixture of minerals and organic compounds including amino acids – the ingredients for life itself.


While it is three decades since the last meteorite was recovered from UK soil, never before has this kind of rock been found in Britain. It is believed that only 51 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites have ever been found and identified across the world.


The rock, along with more fragments recovered from nearby areas, was located after scientists retraced the flight path of the fireball that ripped into the Earth’s atmosphere with a sonic boom that was heard from Ireland to the Netherlands on Sunday 28 February.

Dr Ashley King, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, said it is “exciting for us because more this type of meteorite is incredibly rare but holds important clues about our origins”.

‘Spectacular’ fireball meteor filmed streaking through British skies

Brightly burning meteor seen across wide areas of Japan


The meteorite arrived at the museum in remarkably good condition, the scientists said, comparing it to the quality of samples brought back from space missions.

“For somebody who didn’t really have an idea what it actually was, the finder did a fantastic job in collecting it,” he said. “He bagged most of it up really quickly on Monday morning, perhaps less than 12 hours after the actual event. He then kept finding bits in his garden over the next few days.”

Experts said that the meteorite could provide unique information about the origins of the Solar System some 4.6 billion years ago, as well as where water and the building blocks of life were first formed.
The meteorite fragment was found on a driveway in the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe
(PA)

“Meteorites like this are relics from the early Solar System, which means they can tell us what the planets are made of,” said Professor Sara Russell. “But we also we think that meteorites like this may have brought water to the Earth, providing the planet with its oceans.”

Shortly after the meteor fell to Earth, the UK Fireball Alliance released imagery and maps charting its likely path and saying objects would most likely be found on the ground in and around Cheltenham. At the same time, the alliance advised interested members of the public not to breach coronavirus lockdown measures in order to go looking for space rocks.

Fireball meteorite that fell to earth in Gloucestershire

on display at National History Museum


Tuesday 9 March 2021

• Footage of the fireball from UK Meteor Observation Network

Scientists have recovered fragments of an extremely rare meteorite, that has never been seen before in the UK, in the countryside in Winchcombe.

The meteorite fell from the fireball that lit up the sky over the UK and northern Europe last month.

It is made from carbonaceous chondrite which has been known to contain natural ingredients, organics and amino acids, which are needed for life.

This fragment of space rock will now be the focus of an unprecedented research effort providing answers to questions about the early history of the solar system and life on Earth.

Footage of the fireball from people watching and UK Fireball Alliance camera networks helped locate the meteorite and figure out where it came from.

Almost 300g of the rare meteorite survived its fiery journey as it travelled 14km per second before hitting the Earth's atmosphere and landing on a drive in Gloucestershire.

Other pieces of the meteorite have now been recovered in the 

local area after it was spotted on February 28.

Credit: Natural History Museum

Experts say the meteorite was found in such a good condition, and so quickly after its fall, which is quite unusual compared to the samples brought back from space missions.

Dr Ashley King, from the Natural History Museum, was among the first on the scene when the meteorite was discovered on Wednesday 3 March and has been advising on the handling and care of it since.

He said: "Nearly all meteorites come to us from asteroids, the leftover building blocks of the solar system that can tell us how planets like the Earth formed.

"The opportunity to be one of the first people to see and study a meteorite that was recovered almost immediately after falling is a dream come true."

Dr Richard Greenwood, research fellow in planetary sciences at the Open University was the first scientist to identify and advise on the meteorite.

He said: "I was in shock when I saw it and immediately knew it was a rare meteorite and a totally unique event.

"It's emotional being the first one to confirm to the people standing in front of you that the thud they heard on their driveway overnight is in fact the real thing."

A team of specialist scientists from across the UK have been searching the rest of the predicted fall area for more fragments including colleagues from The University of Plymouth.

There are approximately 65,000 known meteorites on Earth. Only 1,206 have been witnessed to fall and of these, only 51 are carbonaceous chondrites.

Researchers say it is the first known carbonaceous chondrite to have been found in the UK, and the first meteorite recovered in the UK in 30 years.

A fireball zoomed across the sky on Sunday, according to eyewitnesses in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.

© iStock Stock image showing a meteoroid flying towards planet Earth. A fireball was spotted streaking across the sky in parts of the northeastern United States on Sunday.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) said on Facebook it had received more than 100 reports of a fireball being seen over Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and the Canadian province of Québec at around 5:38 p.m. ET on March 7.

NASA Meteor Watch said it had also received reports of the fireball, with analysis showing that the meteor occurred over northern Vermont, first appearing at an altitude of 52 miles above Mount Mansfield State Forest in the north of the state.

The meteor moved northeast at around 47,000 miles per hour, traveling 33 miles through the Earth's upper atmosphere before burning up 33 miles above Beach Hill in Orleans County, Vermont.

NASA said Meteor Watch hoped to refine the trajectory of the meteor as it received more reports from the public.

Fireball is another term for a very bright meteor. Usually, they are brighter than magnitude -4, which is around the same for the planet Venus as seen in the morning or evening sky, according to the AMS.

Meteors, colloquially known as shooting stars, are the streaks of light that we see in the sky when space rocks—asteroids or meteoroids—enter the Earth's atmosphere.

Some eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud boom in addition to seeing the meteor, which was visible for just a few seconds.

One Facebook user, Werner Bartlau, said in reply to the NASA Meteor Watch post: "I heard the rumble in North Cambridge [Massachusetts], thought it might be the F35s going over again—which a half dozen, or more did this morning. Didn't think anything of it, other than it didn't last long."

Another Facebook user, CJ Hudson, had a similar experience. He said: "We heard a sonic boom followed by a dwindling rumble come from north by north east from here in the north east corner of Bristol [Connecticut]. I thought it sounded a little abnormal."

Another eyewitness, Shannon Lemley-Willis, in Johnson, Vermont, said her kids were playing outside when the fireball passed overhead, with her children describing the noise as "big trucks crashing."

Meanwhile, eyewitness Loretta King, who was in St. Albans, Vermont, at the time, said she was in her car and saw the bright yellowish glow of what she thought was a "missile in the sky," describing the sight as "amazing."

Some cameras even managed to capture footage of the fireball. For example, Twitter user Jeremy LaClair spotted the meteor in footage captured by a webcam at Burlington International Airport.

For anyone who was wondering about the big boom / meteor earlier today in #btv #vermont , I dug through some webcam footage and found this on the WCAX / BTV Airport webcam- watch the upper left. pic.twitter.com/oyVLSoVahP  Jeremy LaClair (@JeremyLaclair) March 8, 20

UK NHS REDESIGN POST PANDEMIC

‘If you are not at the table, you are likely to be on the menu’

SERVICE DESIGN
By Charlotte Augst, Alex Fox

8 March 2021
Save article


A vision for how integrated care system reform can lead to a more democratic, equitable and human health and care system, by Charlotte Augst and Alex Fox.

Which “place” do you live in? Our hunch is you will know the answer to this question. Charlotte’s answer would be “Lambeth”, Alex’s, “Leeds”. Which integrated care “system” do you live in? Most people wouldn’t have a clue. Is South East London a system? Who knew Leeds, Harrogate and Calderdale are all part of one ICS?



Charlotte Augst



Alex Fox

The ICSs are intended to do more than join up existing health, care and council bureaucracies. They aim to get services working together to align a huge range of services and organisations with what people actually care about. This means doing more than convening different groups of system leaders. It means co-designing the new way of working with two key groups of people: those who make most use of health and care services, and those who are most often excluded from them.

The first rule of accountability is that you know who is in charge. So if ICSs are to deliver what people actually care about, how can we empower people and communities to hold “a system” to account, when they don’t know it exists? Only by being bold.

If communities and their organisations aren’t at the table, they will not be able to ensure that system priorities are aligned with what people actually care about, that behaviour and services that actually enhance people’s lives are incentivised, measured and funded.The white paper highlights the duty to collaborate for providers, NHS boards and partnerships. But the bill needs to be much bolder in mandating the duty to co-design with local people at three different scales: the ICS region; the “place”: a city, county or borough where people exercise their democratic decision-making; and the neighbourhood which people would recognise as “where I live”.


The ICS is where this work needs to be challenged and supported. Where communities, their organisations, and patients or service users can ask questions about quality and equality

The right locus to understand how to convince a particular community on your patch to attend a vaccine centre is probably the neighbourhood. But the primary care network needs to have a relationship with a primary school’s PTA or a ward councillor’s community charity, to find a credible way of bridging into communities at risk of exclusion. The place is the right place to commission, to define need, to plan for it, in partnership with your local, place based, community specific or infrastructure charities.

The ICS is where this work needs to be challenged and supported. Where communities, their organisations, and patients or service users can ask questions about quality, and equality and about the need for a more strategic understanding of how the ecosystem of statutory and voluntary provision, of formal and informal insight, of NHS data sets and community feedback actually is working. And particularly how it is working for those people and communities at the wrong end of the inverse care law.

Fatima Khan-Shah, of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate ICS, describes how a learning disability champions’ forum supported by a commissioned VCSE organisation started in one area and is now spreading across the region with the ICS’s backing. Action which starts with one place or specific community, but that can be built into more strategic change, is the hallmark of the ICS’s reputation for successful change.

As always, true partnership, including with communities, cannot work where the NHS keeps getting pulled into vertical relationships with its national centre. At the heart of effective partnerships is a commitment to make yourself accountable to your partners – horizontally. So we are excited by the opportunity for all the organisations and partners of ICSs, places and neighbourhoods to get planning, designing and delivering with communities. We can’t leave this commitment to the “nice to have” pile of things this Bill won’t address explicitly. Either this Bill will shift the dial towards greater community and place-based ownership of health and care services, or it will risk getting stuck with the misconception that restructuring NHS bodies delivers different outcomes.

As always, true partnership, including with communities, cannot work where the NHS keeps getting pulled into vertical relationships with its national centre

To focus ICSs and partnership boards on community accountability, health and wellbeing, the legislation could place local authorities and the VCSE, rather than the NHS, at the helm. Or ICSs could be placed under clearer duties to demonstrate they have a full picture of local inequalities which is co-owned by NHS, councils and communities, and to demonstrate progress in tackling those inequalities. Either way, we must see a clearer commitment in both legislation and any subsequent guidance.

The health and care system, and local government, are entering yet another difficult year of growing and urgent need, and a limited capacity to ensure the needs are met, equitably and in person centred ways. New legislation inevitably brings distraction and disruption which can only be justified if the outcome is a health and care system fit for the future: one that is democratic, equitable and human.

LIKE ME YOU MUST OF FOUND THE TITLE INTRIQUING IN AN EDWARD GOREY SORT OF WAY SEEING NEITHER AUTHOR IS A DR. I ASSUME THEY ARE BOTH COOKS.

SINCE WE ALL KNOW THAT EVERY COOK CAN GOVERN.

Every Cook Can Govern by C L R James (marxists.org)

THEY OFFERED NURSES 1% 
The UK’s National Health Service just approved a drug that costs nearly $2.5 million a dose

KEY POINTS

The innovative gene therapy, called Zolgensma, has a reported list price of £1.79 million ($2.48 million) per dose.

That makes it the most expensive drug in the world, NHS England said in a statement Monday.


Kate Cardente holds her then 3-month-old daughter, Ainsley, as she undergoes a gene therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is a disease that is the primary genetic cause of death in babies. Ainsley is getting a one-time infusion of Zolgensma.
Baltimore Sun | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

LONDON — A drug that has been labeled the “most expensive drug in the world” has been approved by the U.K.’s National Health Service, a move that could be life-changing to babies and children suffering with a rare genetic disorder.

The innovative gene therapy called “Zolgensma” does not come cheap, with a reported list price of £1.79 million ($2.48 million) per dose, NHS England said in a statement Monday.

The drug will be used for babies and young children suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare and often fatal genetic disease that causes paralysis, muscle weakness and progressive loss of movement.

Babies born with severe type 1 SMA — the most common form of the condition — have a life expectancy of just two years.

The drug will be available on Britain’s health service, which provides medical care for free at the point of delivery, “at a price that is fair to taxpayers after a landmark confidential deal struck by NHS England,” its Chief Executive Simon Stevens announced Monday. NHS England did not disclose the price paid.

The NHS is primarily funded by the government from general taxation, hence the drugs and treatments it approves and uses have to go through rigorous analysis for their cost-effectiveness.

Zolgensma, which is manufactured by Novartis Gene Therapies (which is part of U.S. pharmaceutical Novartis), has been shown in studies to help babies reach milestones such as breathing without a ventilator, sitting up on their own, and crawling and walking after a single infusion treatment.

The latest data suggests that Zolgensma can provide rapid and sustained improvement in motor function for young children with type 1 SMA and prolong their lives.

As many as 80 babies and young children a year could potentially benefit from the gene therapy, the NHS stated.
Life-changer

Stevens said the deal was a “life-changer for youngsters with this cruel disease and for their families.”

“Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the leading genetic cause of death among babies and young children, which is why NHS England has moved mountains to make this treatment available, while successfully negotiating hard behind the scenes to ensure a price that is fair to taxpayers.”

He said the agreement showed that while the health service remained under pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the NHS was still “looking after millions of other patients too, for whom real medical advances are now possible.”

The deal struck with Novartis Gene Therapies secures the drug for NHS patients in England at a substantial confidential discount and paves the way for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) — the public body which issues guidance on the cost-effectiveness of drugs and treatments used by the NHS — to publish draft guidance recommending treatment with Zolgensma.

The terms of the deal mean that some young children that currently fall outside the NICE recommendation criteria will also be eligible to be considered for treatment by a national clinical team made up of the country’s leading experts in the treatment of SMA.

The NHS said it’s ready to fast-track the introduction of the highly complex and innovative gene therapy and will not wait until NICE publish final guidance to get going. This approach is backed by NICE given the importance of administering the one-off treatment as early as possible, it added.

The approval of the drug marks the second medical treatment now available for youngsters with SMA. It added that future treatment possibilities also look promising, with another SMA drug currently being reviewed by NICE

SAY WHAT

Sex between coaches and teenagers in their care to be made illegal in England and Wales

Crime bill closes legal loophole for sports and religious leaders and extends some sentences

Jail sentences were described by a campaigner as a ‘dead-end’ that would not solve the underlying problems of offending or make communities safer. Photograph: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro/Alamy

Religious leaders and sports coaches could be banned from having sex with 16- and 17-year-olds in their care under plans to expand child abuse laws in England and Wales.

The move would close a legal loophole under so-called position of trust laws, which already apply to teachers and doctors among other professions, and would make sexual relationships between people in these positions and those they supervise illegal.

The government’s pledge follows prolonged calls from campaigners amid concerns predators in such roles could exploit the influence they have on young people, leaving them vulnerable to abuse.

Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “We are delighted that after relentless campaigning, the government has finally listened to our calls and agreed to close this legal loophole.

“This landmark step sends a clear message that children and young people can return to the extracurricular activities they love without being at risk of grooming by the very adults they should look to for support and guidance.”

Longer sentences will not cut crime, say prison experts

Read more

It is one of a raft of measures proposed by the government in its police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, which is due to be introduced to parliament on Tuesday as part of efforts to overhaul the justice system

The wide-ranging plans will also look to bring in whole life orders for child killers and allow judges to hand this punishment out to those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional cases, such as for acts of terrorism causing mass loss of life.

Life sentences could also be imposed on killer drivers, and automatic release halfway through jail terms could be ended for serious violent and sexual offenders.

The bill proposes court orders to help crack down on knife crime and to give police powers to make it easier to stop and search those suspected of carrying a knife.

It also plans to increase the maximum penalty for criminal damage of a memorial from three months to 10 years, give police more powers to tackle non-violent protests that cause significant disruption, and crack down on unauthorised encampments.

The proposals seek to place a legal duty on councils, police, criminal justice bodies, health and fire services to address serious violence and share intelligence.

As part of the bill, deaf people could sit on juries for the first time, with sign language interpreters allowed into jury deliberation rooms.

The justice secretary, Robert Buckland, said the bill would give the “police and courts the powers they need to keep our streets safe, while providing greater opportunities for offenders to turn their lives around and better contribute to society”.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said it would help “stop violent criminals in their tracks, putting the thugs who assault officers behind bars for longer and strengthening the support officers and their families receive”.

But some campaigners hit out at the plans. The human rights group Liberty branded measures to crack down on protests an “assault on our rights”, adding: “They risk stifling dissent and making it harder for us to hold the powerful to account.”

On plans for longer sentences, Peter Dawson, the director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “There is not a shred of evidence to show that this runaway inflation in punishment reduces crime.”

Kate Paradine, the chief executive of Women in Prison, described jails as a “dead-end” that would not solve the underlying problems of offending or make communities safer.

#IWD

Biden signs executive orders for gender equity, women's rights

President Joe Biden seen during a speech in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Thew/UPI | License Photo


March 8 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden signed two executive orders on Monday in recognition of International Women's Day to support gender equity and equal rights in the United States.

International Women's Day, which has been celebrated every March 8 since 2011, observes social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women worldwide.

"Women's history is American history -- and world history. On International Women's Day, we celebrate the achievements, contributions, and progress of women and girls in the United States and around the globe," Biden said in a statement. "My administration is committed to honoring women by investing in their opportunity, security and wellbeing."

Biden's first executive order establishes the White House Gender Policy Council to ensure that the administration advances gender equity and equal rights and opportunity for women and girls.

RELATED New York to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Brooklyn statue

The second order directs the Education Department to review all existing regulations, orders, guidance and policy to guarantee education free from sexual violence, the White House said.

"A year into COVID-19, women are still contending with the public health crisis, and ensuing economic crisis, and on top of those challenges, a caregiving crisis," the White House said in a statement.

"The pandemic has exacerbated barriers that have held back women, especially women of color, forcing many to leave the workforce, manage virtual schooling, and absorb additional caregiving responsibilities."

RELATED Women are safer drivers than men, British study finds

The Gender Policy Council will play a role in domestic and foreign policy development and work with other policy councils to advance gender equity and equality.

The council will be led by Julissa Reynoso, chief of staff to first lady Jill Biden, and Jennifer Klein, chief strategy and policy officer for the anti-sexual harassment group Time's Up. It will also produce an annual report to document the council's progress.

Biden's second order instructs the Education Department to evaluate Title IX regulations issued under the Trump administration to ensure they are compatible with the new administration's policies.

RELATED Study shows gender disparity in NCAA team physicians, trainers

Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos dismantled Obama-era guidelines for sexual discrimination and harassment at federally-funded education programs.

"Elevating the status of women and girls globally is the right thing to do -- it is a matter of justice, fairness and decency and it will lead to a better, more secure and more prosperous world for us all," Biden said.


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GREEN CAPITALI$M IN CRISIS

Demand for legal pot driving growth of industry's swelling carbon footprint

Relaxed marijuana laws and increased demand have fueled the rapid expansion of commercial growing operations -- as well as the industry’s carbon footprint. Photo by 7raysmarketing/pixabay

March 8 (UPI) -- Demand for commercial marijuana continues to grow as more and more states legalize pot. To meet the seemingly insatiable demand, commercial growers are expanding their indoor production.

According to a new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability, indoor growing operations are responsible for the industry's swelling carbon footprint.

Previous studies have highlighted the ill effects of the commercial marijuana industry on local water resources and wildlife habitats, but the latest survey is one of the first to provide a broad view of the sector's climate impacts.

"We knew the emissions were going to be large, but because they hadn't been fully quantified previously, we identified this as a big research opportunity space," lead study author Hailey Summers, graduate student at Colorado State University, said in a news release. "We just wanted to run with it."

RELATED Study: As more legal pot stores open, more young adults start using

For the study, scientists modeled how the growth of marijuana demand in different parts of the country is influencing the greenhouse footprints of local growers. The analysis accounted for differences in climate patterns and electric grids.

Using the new model, researchers found an increase in large commercial warehouses for growing cannabis across the United States.

Their analysis showed growers are emitting between 2,283 and 5,184 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of dried marijuana flower. By comparison, outdoor growing operations are responsible for between 22.7 and 326.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of dried flower.

RELATED Pot use rises over the course of the year, study says

Within large warehouses used for marijuana cultivation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems require the largest amounts of electricity.

In Florida, growers must use lots of energy for dehumidifying their warehouses.

In Colorado, growers use a lot more power for heat. In Denver, for example, the commercial marijuana's electricity use increased from 1 percent of the city's total electricity consumption in 2013 to 4 percent in 2018.

RELATED Marijuana is stronger now than in decades past, study finds

Researchers plan to continue collecting data on the energy usage and carbon footprint of marijuana growers, with hopes of shrinking the industry's carbon footprint.

"We would like to try and improve environmental impacts before they have become built into the way of doing business," said co-author Evan Sproul, research scientist at CSU.

IT TOOK INTERNATIONAL OUTRAGE 

Israel begins drive to give COVID-19 vaccine to 100K Palestinian workers



A medic from Israel's Magen David Adam emergency agency prepares to inoculate a Palestinian worker with the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Lamed Hei Checkpoint between Gush Etzion and Beit Shemesh in Israel, on Monday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

March 8 (UPI) -- Israeli health officials began a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Monday designed to inoculate about 100,000 Palestinian workers who cross the border to work inside the country.

The drive began at eight vaccination centers along the 440-mile barrier that divides Israel and the Palestinian territories

The drive was initially supposed to begin on Sunday, but a military liaison told The Times of Israel the schedule was delayed by administrative issues.

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories will also open four vaccination centers in West Bank settlement industrial zones on Tuesday.

"It is within both Israeli and Palestinian interests that we vaccinate the workers, since, as we know, coronavirus knows no geographic boundaries," COGAT coordinator Lior Wisbaum told The Washington Post.

The plan is to administer initial doses within two weeks. Palestinians who show valid employment permits will be eligible to receive the shots.

About 87,000 Palestinians have work permits in Israel and 35,000 have permits to work in Israeli settlements, according to Israeli figures.

Israel has one of the world's highest coronavirus vaccination rates, with greater than half its population already having received a first dose, according to Bloomberg.

Still, the majority of roughly 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain unvaccinated. Intensive care unit beds in the West Bank are at 95% capacity.

Human rights groups have previously accused Israel, as an occupying power, of shirking an international obligation to vaccinate Palestinians. Israel has countered that the West Bank is technically disputed territory.