Deliveries of a Russian coronavirus vaccine to Palestine have helped contain the pandemic in the country, the President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with TASS ahead of his visit to Moscow and his November 23 meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
"We appreciate the supply of Russian coronavirus vaccines to Palestine, which helped contain the pandemic," he said.
Speaking of Russian-Palestinian cooperation, Abbas pointed out that it is developing along various economic lines, "for the advancement of which, meanwhile, more work is needed."
"It is complicated by the actions of the Israeli occupation authorities, which restrict exports and imports between Palestine and the countries of the world," he noted. - "At the same time, we are grateful for Russia's support in the area of scholarships and training for Palestinian security forces."
In January of this year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health registered the Russian vaccine Sputnik V under an accelerated procedure without conducting additional clinical trials. The first batch of the drug arrived in the West Bank in early February, and the doses were primarily intended for doctors and medical workers. In February, 2,000 doses of the drug were delivered to the Gaza Strip.
In May, during his visit to Moscow, Riyad al-Maliki, the head of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said the Russian vaccine was the first to reach the Palestinian territories. By that time, Palestine had received 500,000 doses of the vaccine. In late May, a single-component vaccine against the coronavirus Sputnik Light was approved for use in Palestine.
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Photo: sputnikvaccine.com
Based on materials from TASS