Covid: Palestinians in West Bank or Gaza Strip will have to wait for vaccine

A technician handles PCR swab samples collected as part of coronavirus testing in the Gaza Strip.

MAHMUD HAMS AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

The Israelis announced the start of the coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 27, making it one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate its residents.

But, during Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's speech, there was no indication of the Jewish state's willingness to provide the vaccine to Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians have also specified that they would have access to it much later.

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With our correspondent in Ramallah,

Alice Froussard

In the West Bank, Palestinians may wait a little longer before having access to the vaccine, this is what the Palestinian Minister of Health said at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday.

The first vaccination campaigns, if all goes well, will start in late January, early February, then in March.

Because the doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which Israel will procure, require very specific conditions in terms of storage and transport.

We would have to invest in many freezers to keep the doses and the Palestinian Authority does not necessarily have the means, subject to a serious financial crisis.

Read also: Covid-19: Israel will begin vaccination at the end of December, Netanyahu will be the first

The authorities have therefore filed a request under the Covax initiative, a UN-backed program that hopes to provide up to 20% of coronavirus vaccines free in poor countries.

But it takes longer and will be distributed to those most at risk.

In the Gaza Strip, it is impossible to know when the vaccine will be available but visiting European diplomats assured it at the start of the week: they want to facilitate access to vaccines for the most vulnerable people and assure that they will do their utmost. possible in collaboration with the United Nations.

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• Coronavirus

• Palestinian territories

• Israel