The Palestinian territory has detected 1,427 new cases in 24 hours

West Bank, awaiting vaccine, experiences an increase in the number of infections

photo_camera REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA - Palestinian workers make their way to work in Israel through a checkpoint amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 near Hebron in the occupied West Bank

Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority launched a vaccination campaign. It began after the arrival of 2,000 doses of Moderna, as confirmed by Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila.

The health minister did not mention the source of the vaccines. However, the Israeli Ministry of Defence had previously reported the transfer of 2,000 doses for Palestinian health workers through the Beitunia checkpoint south of Ramallah, with a further 3,000 doses to be transferred in the future.

Several human rights organisations have also strongly criticised the Israeli government for its refusal to provide the drug to the inhabitants of the territories it occupies. For its part, the Israeli government claims that it is up to the Palestinian Authority to supervise public health under the principles of self-determination, according to the Oslo Accords.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that the Palestinian Authority would receive 37,440 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by mid-February, after reaching an agreement with the manufacturers. The WHO added that they would receive between 240,000 and 405,600 additional doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine between mid- and late February, as well as a further 5,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and another 37,000 doses delivered through the COVAX mechanism.

In this context, the West Bank is experiencing a new peak of infections resulting from COVID-19, which is further straining its hospital system. The occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, with some three million inhabitants, has detected 1,427 new cases in 24 hours, a figure that continues the upward trend of recent days, prompting the health ministry to recommend imposing a two-week general shutdown.

Health Minister Mai al Kaila warned that hospitals "are running out of capacity", intensive care wards are overcrowded and 85% of available beds are occupied, creating an "extremely worrying" situation. 

Atalayar_trabajador sanitario palestino

This situation is compounded by the delay in the arrival of important shipments of vaccines. So far, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has received only 2,000 of 5,000 doses for vaccinating health workers from Israel, and 10,000 doses of Sputnik V donated by Russia. In addition, Israel has frozen the distribution of coronavirus vaccines to allied countries because the authorities must first examine whether it is the prime minister's decision to do so.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that a "limited amount" of unused vaccine would be sent to the Palestinians and other countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Palestinian territories (Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with more than 5 million inhabitants) have recorded some 203,000 cases and 2,216 deaths from COVID-19.

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