The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry has approved Russia’s main vaccine against COVID-19, known as Sputnik V, for use in Palestine’s autonomous region, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said Monday.
In the West Bank, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila confirmed that his ministry had issued an “emergency permit” for the administration of the Russian vaccine in areas under Palestine’s limited autonomy.
A nurse administers a Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Moscow, Russia
(Photo: AFP)
The first shipment of Russian firing is expected to arrive next month, and all deliveries are expected in the first quarter of this year, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing overseas vaccine.
The RDIF did not reveal how many doses would be sent to the Palestinian Authority – which rules in parts of the West Bank under interim peace agreements with Israel – but said the sources would be helped by -manufacturing partners in India, China, South Korea and elsewhere. .
It also did not reveal the financial arrangements of the export contract but it has previously been said that the price of Sputnik V would be less than $ 20 per dose. The price includes the first look and the upside, which is injected 21 days later.
Health workers test Palestine for COVID-19 in Hebron, West Bank
(Photo: EPA)
The Palestinian Authority said Sunday it expected to receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine from British drug dealer AstraZeneca in March, and accused Israel of shrugging duty to ensure vaccines are available in the country. area.
While Israel has been a world leader in vaccines per capita, Palestinians on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip – ruled by Hamas Islamists – have yet to receive their first products .
Outside of Russia, where authorities say more than a million people are now surrounded by Sputnik V, the vaccine has also been approved for emergency use by local regulators in Algeria, Argentina , Bolivia and Serbia, RDIF said.
Palestinian sanitation workers spray disinfectants during the COVID-19 pandemic
(Photo: Reuters)
Russian authorities have stated that any Sputnik V export contracts would include only doses exported by such overseas manufacturing partners, with Russian-made vaccines being widely used to meet domestic needs.
So Russia’s first major batch of vaccines – 300,000 who left Moscow for Argentina last month – attacked the house as critics questioned why it was a priority. trade beyond domestic requirements.