Palestinians to receive Russian COVID-19 vaccine within month
The RDIF said that the PA’s Health Ministry approved the vaccine for use in the territories.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMANA Palestinian man is helped by his son as he receives a vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as Israel continues its national vaccination drive, in east Jerusalem December 23, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
The Palestinian Authority will receive a first shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine within a month, according to a statement by the Russian Direct Investment Fund.The PA Ministry of Health approved the vaccine for use in the territories, the fund said in a press release.“The vaccine was registered under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional clinical trials,” it said.The fund did not indicate the total number of vaccines to be delivered, but it said full delivery was planned for the first quarter of 2021.The news comes against the backdrop of statements by PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. The PA has signed contracts with four companies that produce vaccines against the coronavirus, he said last Tuesday.In opening remarks at the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said the vaccines would arrive within the next two months.The vaccinations will first be given to health teams and then to patients and the elderly, he said.Shtayyeh did not name the companies that have agreed to provide the Palestinians with the vaccines. Sputnik V is among the vaccines, the Russian Direct Investment Fund later announced.Palestinian officials had in recent weeks made conflicting statements about the arrival of vaccines to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Initially, Ministry of Health officials said they expected to receive millions of Russian-produced doses by the end of December.Last week, PA officials said they were hoping to receive the British-produced AstraZeneca vaccine at the beginning of February.No date has been set for the arrival of the first doses of vaccine to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, PA Minister of Health Mai Alkaila said Saturday.PA officials have also made contradictory statements regarding whether they had asked Israel to supply them with the vaccines.There was a “slight decline” in the number of coronavirus infections among Palestinians due to adherence to precautionary measures imposed by the PA government, Shtayyeh said.“We are happy that on top of Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, Sputnik V will now also be present in the Middle East,” said Kirill Dmitriev, the fund’s CEO. “This will allow us to further combine forces for a quicker joint victory over the coronavirus infection by guaranteeing access to an effective and safe vaccine for more countries and their people.”Israel has not yet approved Sputnik V for use in the country, although Jerusalem’s Hadassah-University Medical Center signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase 1.5 million doses of the vaccine and has applied to have it registered by the Health Ministry.So far, Israel, like most Western countries, has opted for alternative vaccines, saying the Russian trials were sparse and it was hard to interpret the data.Sputnik V shows more than 90% efficacy and provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19, the Russian fund said.
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