Corona vaccination campaign in Palestinian territories starts

The vaccination campaign against the coronavirus has started in the Palestinian Territories. In the West Bank, vaccination of the elderly and the chronically ill began on Sunday. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (85) had himself vaccinated on Saturday. Prime Minister Mohammed Shtaye stressed that the vaccine should be distributed in a fair and transparent manner.

The first shipment of vaccines arrived in the West Bank on Wednesday via the international Covax initiative, which is supposed to help poorer countries fight the pandemic. The shipment includes more than 62,000 doses of Biontech / Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

Gaza vaccinates with Sputnik

A vaccination campaign is also running in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist Hamas rules. The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Sunday that 11,000 people had already been vaccinated. A total of 60,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik, donated by the United Arab Emirates, are available there.

A total of around five million people live in the Palestinian Territories. So far there had been very few vaccinations there. The number of corona infections is high and the hospitals are overcrowded. Israel has vaccinated tens of thousands of Palestinians who have permits to work in Israel.

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