Palestinian Authority receives more vaccine doses from China

The Palestinian Authority received more COVID-19 vaccine doses on Tuesday.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh said they received 100,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, according to the PA’s WAFA News Agency.

Both the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have been administering vaccine doses to protect the Palestinian population from the coronavirus. The PA, which is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people, expanded its vaccine drive this month after receiving 60,000 doses via the World Health Organization. The vaccine campaign began in Gaza in February after the arrival of doses from Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel has also vaccinated Palestinian workers from the West Bank who work in Israel and approved this week an initiative to vaccinate Palestinian traders from Gaza who travel to Israel and the West Bank.

The Palestinian territories have obtained more than 100,000 doses so far, but authorities still have a way to go before they can fully vaccinate the roughly 5 million Palestinians living there.

The virus is continuing to spread in the territories in the meantime. The Ministry of Health reported 1,870 new cases and 16 deaths on Tuesday.