‘Palestinians headed towards fourth wave of COVID-19’ – health minister

The Palestinians are heading toward a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, especially with the spread of the Delta and Delta-plus variants, Palestinian Authority Health Minister Mai Alkaila said Tuesday.

She called on Palestinians to get vaccinated and adhere to all preventive measures, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.

Alkaila and members of a Palestinian epidemiological committee, which includes experts from various national, health and academic institutions, met on Tuesday to discuss ways of curbing the rise of infections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The committee discussed expanding the target groups for the vaccination rollout and policies that can be taken to give a third dose to the groups most vulnerable to serious complications from infection, she said.

There is a great discrepancy in the percentage of vaccinations between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Alkaila said. It is important to work with the relevant authorities and partners to encourage the public to receive vaccinations, especially in the Hamas-ruled enclave, she added.

A total of 477,027 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the West Bank and 101,337 in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials.

The West Bank recorded 26 new cases over the past 24 hours, while the Gaza Strip had 113 new infections and one death, Alkaila said.

Three patients recovered in the West Bank over the past 24 hours and 59 in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall total of recovered cases since the outbreak of the disease in March 2020 to 98.6%, while 0.3% remain active and 1.1% have died, she added.