HRW: Houthis blocking delivery of covid vaccines to Yemen

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Houthi group in Yemen of blocking the delivery of coronavirus vaccines to areas under its control and of spreading misinformation among residents regarding the potentially fatal disease.

Since the pandemic erupted, the Houthis, who control a large part of northern Yemen, have rarely published statistics about the pandemic, announcing the death of one coronavirus patient so far.

HRW said yesterday that the Houthi authorities in Yemen “suppressed information about the dangers and impact of Covid-19 and undermined international efforts to provide vaccines in areas under their control.”

“No vaccines have reached areas under Houthi control,” it added.

“The deliberate decision of the Houthi authorities’ to keep the real number of cases of Covid-19 under wraps and their opposition to vaccines are putting Yemeni lives at risk,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW, noting that “pretending Covid-19 does not exist is not a mitigation strategy and will only lead to mass suffering.”

READ: WHO to start COVID-19 vaccination in Houthi-run north Yemen

At the end of March, Yemen had received 360,000 vaccines as part of the UN-supervised COVAX initiative to provide vaccines to the world’s poorest countries.

The plan, which gives Yemen access to 1.9 million vaccines in 2021, provides for delivering some doses to the Houthi-controlled areas.

HRW quoted a medical source as saying that the movement’s failure to cooperate with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Yemeni government has prevented any vaccines from reaching the north.

The organisation confirmed that “as a result, vaccinations are only delivered to the south,” which is under the control of the internationally recognised government that has received support from Saudi Arabia.

Yemen, which has a population of 30 million, officially recorded more than 6,700 infections with the virus, including 1,321 deaths. However infection rates in Houthi-held areas are unknown and do not make up the official records.