COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 vaccineiStock

The Palestinian Authority will receive the first shipment of the Russian Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, a PA source told Channel 13 News on Monday evening.

The source said that the PA’s “civil affairs minister”, Hussein Al-Sheikh, is currently in Russia where he is negotiating to bring the Russian vaccine to PA residents.

The report said that Al-Sheikh is expected to return to the PA via the Allenby Crossing on Tuesday and bring with him the first shipment of about 5,000 vaccines.

The request for their entry was sent to Israel through the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and was approved by the Ministry of Health.

The PA recently said it had signed agreements with four companies to supply COVID-19 vaccines.

Monday’s report follows an announcement last month by PA officials that they expect to receive four million coronavirus vaccines from Russia.

More recently, a senior PA health official announced that the PA was in touch with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as several international companies which produce vaccines, and asked for a speedy delivery.