Approximately 2,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine are set to arrive in Gaza tomorrow, Hamas health official Majdi Dahir tells official Hamas media.
The Palestinian Authority received 10,000 doses of the Russian vaccine in early February as a donation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The shipment was the first series of coronavirus immunizations to reach Ramallah since the beginning of the pandemic.
Illustrative: Workers unload a shipment of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, February 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Despite the rift between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which is based in West Bank, and the Hamas terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, the PA has said it is responsible for sending vaccines to Gaza.
An Israeli defense official says that the Palestinian Authority has already submitted a request for the vaccines to enter Gaza. The Israeli security apparatus has yet to approve the request, he says.
“The request is being examined by the National Security Council. So far, there has been no approval. It could be the case that in an hour, there will be,” the official says.
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