“Some people said to me, are you crazy? Wait until you see if this is good or bad,” she said.
Only 8,500 people have been vaccinated in Gaza, according to an official, although the enclave of two million people has received about 83,300 doses of vaccines since February donated by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the global COVAX program.
Vaccine suspicion is deep in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which has registered more than 57,000 coronavirus infections and 572 deaths. He recently relaxed the blocking restrictions.
Some people fear the possible side effects of the jab and are sharing their doubts widely on social media.
Millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide.
Echoing global scientific and health experts, Majdi Dhair, Gaza’s deputy director of primary health care, said the vaccines are safe.
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“We have the experience of 8,500 people who have already done it (the photo),” he said.
He said the mild side effects experienced by some people, such as headaches and short-term fever, “cannot be compared to the enormous benefits that the vaccine offers to protect them from infection”.
Dhair said health officials in Gaza are prioritizing some 150,000 people considered to be at high risk, such as medical staff and people with underlying health problems.
“Only 26,000 people registered. This is a minimum number, ”he said, citing misinformation on social media as part of the problem.
On a street in Gaza, Ahmed Nasser, 57, leaned against a pro-vaccination mural, painted by young people, which depicts a “coronavirus” with irregular teeth trying to pull a woman of two young men holding her hand.
“Protect yourself,” says a slogan beside the painting. “Hand in hand we protect the elderly.”
Nasser, a government official, was not convinced.
“Of course, I’m not going to get the vaccine. They say on social media that it can lead to blood clots, ”he said.
Both the West Bank and Gaza are far behind Israel, which is a world leader in vaccination.