Allowed By Israel, Palestinians In Gaza Finally Receive The First Package Of COVID-Made Vaccines In Russia

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JAKARTA - Palestinians in Gaza receive the first package of the COVID-19 vaccine this Wednesday, February 17. Vaccine acceptance can be realized after Israel issues a vaccine distribution permit across its border with Gaza, an area controlled by Hamas.

Information about the arrival of the first packet of vaccine to Gaza was conveyed by Israeli and Palestinian government officials, as reported by Ruters, quoted via Antara.

Gaza is an area inhabited by 2 million people and reported more than 53,000 positive cases of COVID-19. A total of 538 of them died.

The vaccine package, sent by the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank, consists of 2,000 doses of the COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine made by Russia's Gamaleya Institute. Those thousands of doses will suffice for 1,000 people. Each person will receive two doses of the vaccine.

"We will use the dose of the vaccine for patients who have had organ transplant operations, as well as those with kidney failure," said Majdi Dhair, a Health Ministry official in Gaza.

"Health workers have not been included in the list of vaccine recipients because the number of doses is not sufficient," said Dhair.

The permission granted by Israel for the delivery of the vaccine package to Gaza has been criticized by a number of far-right Tel Aviv politicians.

The politicians have urged the government to use the delivery of vaccines in an effort to free two Israeli civilians held by armed groups in Gaza.

The dispatch, according to Israeli politicians, should have been used by the government to ask Hamas to repatriate the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who died in the war in Gaza in 2014.

However, Israel has also received a lot of pressure from international human rights organizations regarding its vaccination program in occupied areas. The human rights organization called on Israel to ensure that residents in occupied areas have access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

On another occasion, officials in Palestine said the vaccine package should have been sent by Monday, February 15th. However, the plan was canceled by the authorities in Israel.

Palestinian Authority officials said they had sent letters requesting the transfer of vaccines to the Israeli defense authorities. The application came after the Palestinian Authority received 10,000 Sputnik V vaccines in the West Bank on February 4.

Delayed delivery of vaccines to Gaza is hampering efforts to vaccinate Palestinians, who are currently scattered across Gaza and the West Bank. The two separate territories are inhabited by 5.2 million Palestinians.

However, Israel controls all access into and out of the West Bank and the coastal and land borders of the Gaza Strip.