Palestinian Authority gives Covid-19 vaccine to frontline healthworkers

Israel transferred 2,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine on Monday while Russia's Sputnik V will also be used

Medical workers handle test samples at a Palestinian Health Ministry testing lab for coronavirus disease in the West Bank city of Ramallah on February 2, 2021. AFP

Palestinians launched a Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Tuesday, with health workers receiving the first shots after the delivery of doses from Israel. International shipments are expected within days.

Medical personnel treating coronavirus patients or working in intensive care units were inoculated at Hugo Chavez hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.

"It was a wonderful step because it is crucial to protect medical staff who are dealing with Covid-19 patients from zero distance and are at risk of getting the infection," said Bassil Bawatneh, the hospital's director.

Israel transferred 2,000 doses of Moderna Inc's vaccine on Monday and said it had earmarked another 3,000 shots for the Palestinians.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said that within days her ministry would receive 5,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and 37,000 doses from the Covax global vaccine-sharing programme.

Ms Alkaila said some of the doses would on Wednesday be transferred to the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the PA's main rival, Hamas.

She estimated it would take several months to complete vaccinations in Palestinian areas.

People over the age of 60 or with chronic illnesses will be the first to be inoculated among the general public, the Health Ministry said.

Rights groups have called on Israel, a world leader in the administration of Covid-19 vaccines, to ensure Palestinians are inoculated, citing its occupation of the West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 war.

Israeli officials said that task should fall to the Palestinian Health Ministry, part of the PA, which exercises limited self-rule under interim peace deals.

The West Bank, where 3.1 million Palestinians live, has reported 101,221 coronavirus cases, with 1,271 deaths. Gaza, with a population of two million, has more than 51,000 cases and 523 deaths.

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