Palestinians in Gaza began a limited
COVID-19 vaccination program on Monday after receiving doses donated by Russia and the United Arab Emirates, ahead of a virtual international donor meeting Tuesday to discuss funding for a wider initiative.
Officials in the coastal enclave, run by the Islamist group Hamas and home to an estimated 2 million people, are administering the first of their 22,000 Russia Sputnik V doses to health workers. Patients with chronic diseases and those over 60 years old will follow.
Gaza received its first vaccine shipment last week after Israel approved a transfer of 2,000 doses that Russia had donated to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which entered
Gaza though its Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
It has separately received 20,000 Russian doses from the UAE, through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Palestinian health officials have said they need 2.6 million doses to inoculate all people over 16, assuming a two-dose regimen. There are 5.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza by Palestinian estimates.
Funding has been an issue for the Palestinian Authority in general and specifically with respect to the vaccines, in both the West Bank and Gaza.
A World Bank report issued Monday warned that the Palestinians’ COVID-19 vaccination plan faces a $30 million funding shortfall, even after factoring in support from a global vaccine scheme for poorer economies.
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It’s one of a number of reports that will be presented to a virtual meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which typically meets twice a year, once in Brussels in the spring and once in New York in the fall, on the sidelines of the annual opening of the UN General Assembly.
The 15-member body, that includes the United States, is one of the few forums where Israeli and Palestinian officials meet and jointly participate in larger international forum.
Tuesday’s meeting is the first gathering of the AHLC since US President Joe Biden took office last month. The Trump administration had downgraded its participation in the meetings.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide, who chairs the meeting, said Friday,in advance of the meeting, that “the pandemic has further exacerbated the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“At the meeting, we will continue to call for close cooperation between the parties to combat the pandemic, which is necessary if they are to succeed. It is also important to advance economic cooperation. This is essential to strengthen the financial situation of the Palestinian Authority.”
Israel, credited with one of the most efficient vaccination roll-out programs in the world, has been under international pressure to provide vaccines for the Palestinians. It should consider donating surplus doses to help accelerate a vaccine roll-out in the West Bank and Gaza, the World Bank said.
“In order to ensure there is an effective vaccination campaign, Palestinian and Israeli authorities should coordinate the financing, purchase and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines,” it added.
Israel has explained that under the terms of the Oslo Agreement, the PA has responsibility for the health care of Palestinians in the West Bank. It has emphasized, however, that it is committed to helping facilitate the movement of vaccines that the PA has purchased.
But its policy in Gaza differs. Here Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under domestic public pressure not to allow vaccines into Gaza until Hamas releases the remains of two soldiers and frees two Israeli citizens which it is holding.
Israel plans to weigh each request by the PA to transfer vaccines into Gaza on a case by case…