Unlike Israel, the Palestinians in the occupied territories have hardly been vaccinated. As a result, and due to the advance of infectious variants, the number of new infections tripled in recent weeks. More than 20 percent of all tests have a positive result.
To contain the outbreak, the Palestinian government decided to take “strict, immediate and unprecedented measures,” said Prime Minister Shtayyeh. For example, traffic between the different cities has been restricted, and there is a complete lockdown on weekends.
Not enough vaccines
The Palestinian Prime Minister also called on the international community to provide vaccines. Last month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) expected a delivery from Covax, an international initiative of the World Health Organization, among others. But those doses still haven’t arrived.
Today, 40,000 vaccines from the United Arab Emirates arrived in the Gaza Strip. In total, the Palestinians received more than 70,000 vaccines, also through donations from Russia and Israel. Its distribution sparked controversy, as not only health workers, but also politicians and people around them were vaccinated. The Palestinian football team also received an injection.
But most of the Palestinians, including the elderly and at-risk groups, have yet to wait for a vaccine. Partly because of this, the pressure on Israel to vaccinate the entire Palestinian population has increased in recent months. International organizations as well as Israeli health scientists are calling on the government to do so.
But according to the Israeli government, the vaccination program is the responsibility of the Palestinians themselves. Israel did start a campaign this week to vaccinate Palestinian border workers. Workers working in Israel or in Israeli settlements in occupied territory are claiming the vaccine, according to authorities. There are more than 100,000.
Doctor Khader hopes more vaccines will arrive in the West Bank soon: “Especially for the elderly. Whatever vaccines we can get would reduce the number of patients.”
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 1,500 people have been killed by corona in the West Bank. About three million Palestinians live in the area. In the Gaza Strip, with a population of two million, at least 500 Palestinians died from the virus.
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