US Gives Palestinians $15 Mln for Virus Response

US Gives Palestinians $15 Mln for Virus Response

The State Department building is pictured in Washington, US, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The Biden administration is giving the Palestinians $15 million to aid in their COVID-19 response in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the US State Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The funds from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would help support efforts by the Catholic Relief Services in healthcare facilities as well as address food insecurity, the statement said.

Earlier in March, the Palestinian Authority received 60,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines, which were delivered via the Covax program of the United Nations.

Palestinian officials said that health workers, people over 75 and patients with kidney disease or cancer could get the vaccine.

The UN says it plans to deliver enough doses to inoculate another million Palestinians via the Covax program.

Palestinians have also received about 60,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine from the United Arab Emirates, and they are set to receive a further 100,000 Chinese vaccine doses as well.

Israel has vaccinated more than 100,000 Palestinian workers with permits to enter Israel or Jewish settlements in the West Bank.