Palestinian Authority Slams ‘Israeli’ Deprivation of Palestinians from COVID-19 Vaccines

By Staff, Agencies

In a speech to the United Nations Security Council, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Tuesday criticized the Zionist entity for preventing Palestinians from access to coronavirus vaccines.

Speaking via videoconference, the Palestinian envoy said the Tel Aviv regime “has not provided any vaccine to the Palestinian people under occupation to this day, denying its obligation to do so.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has announced deals with four companies to provide doses for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza: AstraZeneca, Moderna, the Chinese government-backed Sinopharm, and the Russian-backed Sputnik V.

An initial shipment of the Sputnik vaccine — enough to vaccinate 50,000 Palestinians — is scheduled to arrive in February, according to statements by Palestinian and Russian officials.

A Palestinian official estimated that the AstraZeneca vaccine would not arrive in Ramallah until mid-March, adding that Ramallah had already paid half of the doses’ cost upfront to the British pharmaceutical company.

The rest of the vaccines, the official said, might not arrive until the end of 2021.