Naji Nazzal, Chief of Palestinian hospitals in the Health Ministry, in a statement sent to Xinhua on Wednesday, said that the epidemiological situation in Palestinian territories is getting worse, adding that “there is a significant increase in the number of patients who need hospitalization.”
Meanwhile, the territories continue to face violent military actions and human rights violations from Israel.
Nazzal said that the cases of COVID19 infections were decreasing initially but the “situation has worsened after discovering Covid-19 Delta variant in the Palestinian territories.”
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Nazzal called on the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to take the vaccine, adding that “it protects the patients from the risky symptoms and reduces the numbers of patients who would need intensive care and ventilators.”
Amidst an increasing number of coronavirus cases, the health ministry made necessary preparations and opened its medical centers in the West Bank and Gaza to receive the cases that need hospitalization.
Nazzal called on the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to take the vaccine, adding that “it protects the patients from the risky symptoms and reduces the numbers of patients who would need intensive care and ventilator.”
On Sunday, Palestinian officials said 70 percent of the active Covid-19 cases in the Palestinian territories are infected with Delta variant. In a worrisome development, the number of active cases of COVID-19 continues to rise across the territories with the most cases in Gaza.
According to WHO, more cases of the infectious Delta and Delta plus variants are emerging in the West Bank amidst fear that the fourth wave has started in the area.
So far 626,279 people have been vaccinated in total in Palestinian territories with 512,416 and 113,863 people in West Bank and Gaza respectively.
These figures represent around 22 % of the target Palestinian population (18 years and above) of these numbers, the total who have received their second dose is 426,973 in the occupied Palestinian Territories overall (excluding East Jerusalem).
In the Gaza Strip, there are currently 28 active vaccination centers, in addition to other hospitals, providing COVID-19 vaccines to people above 18 years old, across Gaza Strip.
The vaccination drive in the region has been closely supported by aid from Russia and China. WHO received a shipment that includes 10 Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) kits for Gaza Health Authorities in Generous donations by the Russian government.
The kits (drugs and medical consumables) will be deployed to increase treatment capacity for Gaza Health facilities to help more than 300,000 patients for a period of three months in response to the recent escalation in Gaza. Two more shipments from the Russian government are due to arrive.
Earlier in March, the Palestinians received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China in its effort to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly, and the chronically ill in the territories, Reuters reported.
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