Updates From Lebanon’s Vaccine Scandal: New Names, World Bank Gets Threatened, Outgoing Minister Received Vaccine & More

Updates From Lebanon's Vaccine Scandal_ New Names, World Bank Gets Threatened, Outgoing Minister Received Vaccine & More
@SarojJha001

The Lebanese Parliament vaccine scandal exposed on Tuesday continues to unfold, with new names, updates, and statements coming in.

Journalist Timour Azhari, who first revealed the scandal, shared on Wednesday an updated list of the Lebanese MPs who received COVID-19 vaccine shots on Tuesday.

The new list, which Azhari got from Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elie Ferzli, includes 11 MPs, 6 staff members, 3 Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) members, in addition to caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni.

The MPs are:

  • Abdel Rahim Mrad
  • Wehbe Qatisha
  • Mustafa Husseini
  • Ali Osseiran
  • Nicolas Nahhas
  • Ghazi Zaiter
  • Elie Ferzli
  • Salim Saadeh
  • Yassine Jaber
  • Anise Nassar
  • Bakr Hujeiri

The LRC confirmed to Azhari that the vaccine shots that remained after the above were vaccinated were administered to LRC members on the site.

On his part, Ferzli said that the officials Naameh Tohme, Henry Chedid, Albert Mansour, Mohammad Kabara, Tammam Salam, Michel Musa, Fayez Ghosn, Mario Aoun, and Anwar Khalil, who were mentioned in previous versions of the list, had been vaccinated on previous dates.

Notably, commenting on the remarks of the World Bank‘s regional director Saroj Kumar Jha, Ferzli called him “a hypocrite and a liar,” threatening, “if he doesn’t apologize I won’t let him stay in Lebanon,” according to Azhari.

Jha had warned that a confirmed violation of the World Bank‘s terms and conditions might lead to the suspension of the World Bank’s financing of vaccines for Lebanon.

We have a dedicated coronavirus section where you can find the latest news/updates about the pandemic in Lebanon, inform yourself with WHO-verified resources, and track the number of cases in Lebanon in real-time. Click here.