Palestinians on Wednesday received their first delivery of coronavirus vaccines via the United Nations COVAX program, meant to ensure an equal distribution of the jabs around the world.
Earlier, some 60,000 doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines allocated to the Palestinians under the UN scheme arrived at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, according to an Israeli security source.
2 View gallery
A refrigerated truck loaded with the first delivery of coronavirus vaccine via the United Nations Covax program supporting poorer areas, drives toward the West Bank city of Ramallah, on March 17, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
The UN's Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland, welcomed the delivery. "Those vaccines being sent to the West Bank and Gaza will be critical tools in our fight against the pandemic and for socioeconomic recovery," his office quoted him as saying.
The Palestinian Authority said that vaccination would begin on Sunday, primarily for those aged over 75, cancer patients and medical personnel.
Israel has provided 5,000 doses to Palestinian medical personnel, and vaccinated 90,000 Palestinians who work inside Israel or in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
But while rights groups have urged it to extend its innoculation campaign throughout the territory, as the occupying power, Israel says health responsibilities there fall to the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo Accords.
2 View gallery
A refrigerated truck loaded with the first delivery of coronavirus vaccine via the United Nations Covax program supporting poorer areas, drives toward the West Bank city of Ramallah, on March 17, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
The United Arab Emirates has sent around 60,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave of two million inhabitants.
The Palestinians are also to receive 100,000 Chinese vaccine doses and nearly two million other jabs through the COVAXscheme, set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Alliance for Human Rights.
In Gaza, health authorities have confirmed more than 57,000 infected people, including more than 568 dead, since the start of the pandemic. In the West Bank, around 156,000 patients have been recorded, including more than 1,745 deaths.