“The procurement has been secured through various sources, including the UN-backed Covax program,” said Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, while speaking ahead of a weekly cabinet meeting.

“Vaccination will start in the middle of this month,” Shtayyeh noted.

Shtayyeh said the vaccines would be allocated to the 2.8 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the two million people in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Hamas movement.

Palestine has so far reported more than 159,000 coronavirus cases, with 1,840 deaths and 150,000 recoveries. (ILKHA)