Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the coronavirus vaccination program in the West Bank is set to begin in mid-February.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said the Palestinian Authority (PA) was expecting a first shipment of 50,000 vaccines from several sources, including the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVAX program.
The authority is also planning to purchase vaccines using its state budget, with hopes for more shipments at some point between the end of February or the beginning of March.
Shtayyeh said the rollout would begin in "all Palestinian territories", and his government would also provide the Gaza Strip with a share of any vaccines received.
The PA has been trying to acquire doses through the WHO's COVAX initiative in order to get its vaccination program off the ground, but the WHO scheme, which aims to procure vaccines for countries struggling to get hold of doses, has been slow to start.
The WHO says the PA will receive 37,440 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from mid-February pending agreements with manufacturers and regulatory approval.
The PA would receive another 240,000 to 405,600 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from mid-to late February subject to WHO emergency use approval.
The WHO's announcement Monday came a day after Israel said it had agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line medical workers.
Israel has been one of the world's leaders in vaccinating its population after striking procurement deals with international drug giants Pfizer and Moderna, with nearly one-third of Israel's 9.3 million people receiving a first dose of the vaccine.
Its campaign includes Israel's Arab citizens and Palestinians living in annexed east Jerusalem, but Palestinians living in the West Bank under the autonomy government of the Palestinian Authority, and those living under Hamas rule in Gaza, are not included.
Rights groups say Israel is responsible as an occupying power to provide vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, but Israel denies it has such an obligation and says it is prioritizing its own citizens.
The Palestinians have not publicly requested vaccines from Israel and say they are seeking their own supplies elsewhere.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has recorded over 107,900 cases of the coronavirus in the West Bank since the beginning of the pandemic.
At least 1,800 Palestinians have died from the disease, according to the ministry's statistics.
Associated Press
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