UN Palestinian Refugee Agency To Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts In Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) pledged to increase its vaccination efforts in Gaza to mitigate health risks to displaced Palestinians and refugees, the agency's head, Philippe Lazzarini, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th June, 2021) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) pledged to increase its vaccination efforts in Gaza to mitigate health risks to displaced Palestinians and refugees, the agency's head, Philippe Lazzarini, told Sputnik.

According to Lazzarini, the pandemic has disrupted social and economic cooperation in the region, which negatively affected displaced Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinian refugees in other countries after escalation of hostilities with Israel in May.

"So it is absolutely key that we scale up our vaccination campaign now in order to prevent new health and economic disaster there [in Gaza]," Lazzarini said, adding that the current vaccination rate in the enclave is less than 5%, which is not nearly enough.

He noted that UNRWA had already increased its contributions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and provided its health centers in Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza for national vaccination campaigns.

However, Lazzarini said that those efforts were still insufficient and urged the global community to join in on the vaccine sharing, calling it "collective liability."

UNRWA provides humanitarian services, including education, health care, social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance and emergency response, in armed conflict zones. Following the recent eleven-day hostilities between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the agency appealed for $38 million to support about 50,000 people seeking safety in 50 designated shelters.