Coronavirus: Health Ministry officials hold COVID assessment in Ramallah
It is extremely rare for Israeli officials to go to Ramallah for a meeting.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMANUpdated: FEBRUARY 20, 2021 00:11Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price(photo credit: EYAL BASON)
Senior Health Ministry officials visited Ramallah on Friday and met with their Palestinian counterparts to evaluate the situation there in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.“Understanding that Israel and the Palestinians live in one area and that an outbreak of COVID-19 among the Palestinian Authority may also affect the infection rate among Israeli residents, senior ministry officials visited with the PA Health Ministry and received a briefing on the coronavirus situation in the PA, morbidity data and the epidemiological investigations that are taking place,” the ministry said in a statement.The visit included Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy, Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis and Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash.It is extremely rare for Israeli officials to go to Ramallah for a meeting.The visit came against the backdrop of reports on Thursday that the Health Ministry had decided to provide Palestinians who work in Israel with the Moderna coronavirus vaccine.Israel received a shipment of around 100,000 Moderna vaccines earlier this year but has yet to distribute them, according to a spokesperson in the Health Ministry. Some 5,000 were committed to the PA to inoculate its healthcare workers.The Health Ministry did not release the details as to how these workers will get the jab, according to the reports.According to the World ‘O Meter website, the PA has had 171,154 cases of coronavirus and 1,956 deaths. It was unclear if that number included Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.On Wednesday, Israel allowed 1,000 Sputnik V vaccines that had been donated by Russia to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing, the Defense Ministry said.The transfer had been held up due to internal debate in Israel as to whether the country should demand that Hamas release the two Israeli civilians it is holding hostage in Gaza and return the bodies of two Israelis soldiers before allowing the vaccines to enter.
