Palestine gets 72,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestine has received a second shipment of the UN-led COVAX initiative containing 72,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the country's Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

In a brief press release, the ministry said that 28,800 doses will be transferred to the Gaza Strip, and 43,200 doses to the West Bank.

The ministry did not specify the type of vaccine. A source in the ministry, however, told Anadolu Agency that the vaccine doses that arrived in Palestine from COVAX are of the AstraZeneca type.

COVAX aims to provide at least 2 billion doses of vaccines to middle- and low-income countries by the end of 2021.

On Monday, the Health Ministry announced that the number of citizens who received the coronavirus vaccine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached 166,849, including 25,466 who received the two doses of the vaccine.

On March 17, Palestine received the first shipment of the vaccine under the global COVAX initiative and it included 37,440 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 24,000 AstraZeneca vaccine.

As of Tuesday morning, Palestinian health authorities recorded 310,555 cases of the virus, including 3,319 deaths.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat