Covid-19 in the Gaza Strip: vaccines are struggling to arrive
Un palestino es vacunado contra el covid el 22 de febrero de 2021 in Gaza MAHMUD HAMS AFP
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2 min
While Israel has vaccinated more than half of its population against Covid-19, next door, the health situation in the Gaza Strip is worrying.
More than 1,000 cases of contamination have been recorded during the last 24 hours.
Of the two million inhabitants of the enclave, barely 1% were able to receive their first dose of vaccine.
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From our correspondent in Jerusalem
,
Sami Boukhelifa
Subject to a double Israeli and Egyptian blockade, the Gaza Strip was relatively untouched by the epidemic in 2020.
The peak was not reached until last December, recalls Dr. Ghada al Djedba, doctor in Gaza: “
After the first wave, our data showed that 40% of the population of Gaza had contracted Covid-19.
We then prepared for a second wave, but expected it to be less violent.
We were wrong.
Four months after contracting the virus, some people are sick again, it is because of the variants.
"
20,000 people received a first dose
And the vaccines are slow to arrive, of the two million Gazans, only 1%, or just over 20,000 people, have received their first dose, deplores Dr. Ghada al Djedba: "
I encourage people to be vaccinated , but I don't have enough to vaccinate them.
However, we have set up vaccination centers and we are ready to launch a major campaign
”.
Thanks to
the Covax system of the United Nations
, the Palestinian Authority and the United Arab Emirates, the Gaza Strip has received some 80,000 doses of vaccines: insufficient for this territory of two million inhabitants, considered one of the most densely populated in the world.
► See also: Israel: the political class divided on the supply of vaccines to the Gaza Strip
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