The Palestinian Authority said Monday that they had revived their coronavirus vaccination campaign due to a delay in delivery.
The PA had said it was expecting passengers by the middle of this month, allowing it to launch vaccinations to the public on the West Bank while sharing stock with Hamas, the Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip.
“There has been a delay in the arrival of the vaccine,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said ahead of a weekly cabinet meeting, without further details.
He said vaccines for the general public would be announced “at a later time,” when sufficient supplies arrive.
The Palestinian Authority expects about two million doses to be ordered from various manufacturers, as well as vaccines from the DA-backed COVAX program, which was set up to help less affluent countries get vaccines.
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Palestinian men watch live television broadcast of Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila announcing the start of vaccination against Covid-19, in the West Bank city of Hebron
(Photo: AFP)
He began vaccinating frontal health care workers earlier this month with an initial supply of 10,000 doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine as well as several thousand doses of Moderna product given to the PA from Israel’s own stock.
The Jewish state, which is conducting one of the fastest vaccination campaigns in the world, has defied international calls to share its stock with Palestinians living on its shores. West Bank and Gaza.
Under the terms of Oslo Accords, however, the PA is responsible for the health care of their own population and has reiterated that it receives its own vaccination through the DA scheme. He never asked Israel for help.
The PA has recorded nearly 115,000 cases of coronavirus in the West Bank, including nearly 1,400 deaths, and Hamas has recorded nearly 53,600 cases in Gaza, including 537 death.