Palestinian Authority receives first shipment of COVAX vaccine with 60,000 doses

Palestinian Authority receives first shipment of COVAX vaccine with 60,000 doses

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The Palestinian Authority received 60,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, which is the largest single allocation to date and its first delivery of inoculations through a World Health Organization donor program known as COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access).

Throughout this year, COVAX will provide sufficient doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to one million Palestinians, equivalent to 20% of its population.

COVAX is dedicated to ensuring that 20% of the global population in poor and middle-income countries are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The shipment that arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport this morning included 37,000 doses of Pfizer and 23,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines.

The Coordination Unit for Governmental Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is facilitating the transfer of 40,000 doses to the Palestinian Authority through the Betunia Crossing. A further 20,000 vaccines will be transferred to the Gaza Strip later today.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said he was “happy to receive the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines in Palestine, through the COVAX Facility” through a partnership that also included the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI); Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and UNICEF.

“The UN is supporting the Palestinian government’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign. These vaccines sent to the West Bank and Gaza will be critical tools in our fight against the pandemic and for socioeconomic recovery, ”he said.

“The UN, through its good offices, will continue to support the Government of Palestine in accessing vaccines through COVAX facilities so that it can fully implement its national vaccination campaign,” said Wennesland.

He also thanked Israel for coordinating the transfer of vaccines.

The Palestinian Authority is only in the early stages of its vaccination program. According to a WHO report published last Thursday, only 9,646 Palestinians were vaccinated through Palestinian health services in the West Bank and Gaza.

The largest vaccination campaign to date for Palestinians has been conducted by Israel, which plans to inoculate 120,000 workers employed within sovereign Israel or in West Bank settlements with the Modern vaccine.

To date, about 90,000 of these Palestinians have been vaccinated with their first dose through a program organized by COGAT, the Israeli Ministry of Health and Magen David Adom.

In addition, Israel donated 5,000 Modern vaccines to the Palestinian Authority to Palestinians in the West Bank. The United Arab Emirates sent 60,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik vaccine to Gaza, of which 40,000 were transferred on Friday and 20,000 were sent to Gaza last month.

Russia separately donated 10,000 of its Sputnik vaccines to the AP.

By the end of this month, the PA should receive a shipment of 100,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

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