Palestinian Authority says AstraZeneca vaccines could come in March

Supplies would also come through a World Health Organization vaccine program for poor and middle income countries.

By REUTERS
Palestinian health workers wearing protective masks walk in a quarantine zone installed by the ministry of health to test passengers returning from China for coronavirus, at Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
Palestinian health workers wearing protective masks walk in a quarantine zone installed by the ministry of health to test passengers returning from China for coronavirus, at Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
The Palestinian Authority said on Sunday it expects to receive its first COVID-19 vaccine doses in March under a deal with drugmaker AstraZeneca.
While Israel has already become the world leader in vaccinations per capita, Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have yet to secure their first supplies.
Yasser Bozyeh, the Palestinian general director of public health, told Reuters that in addition to reaching an agreement in principle with AstraZeneca, the Palestinians had also sought supplies from Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Russia, which has developed the Sputnik V vaccine.
Supplies would also come through a World Health Organization vaccine program for poor and middle income countries.
There was no immediate response from AstraZeneca to an emailed request from Reuters for comment.
A WHO official said on Sunday the organization had held "informal discussions" with Israel over allocating some supplies to the Palestinians to inoculate health workers. 
The official, Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WHO office in the Palestinian territories, said Israel indicated it would explore the option.