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March 13th, 2021 
Awake Goy - 232,665 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 207,679 recoveries; 2,467 deaths
- Of those who tested positive, 148,769 live in the West Bank; 56,883 live in Gaza; and 27,013 live in East Jerusalem
- 816,198 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19; 775,896 recoveries; 5,980 deaths; over 3.7 million receive both vaccines; restaurants and bars open under ‘green pass’ system
Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinians experience a third wave, overwhelming hospitals and filling ICU’s to their maximum capacity.
On Tuesday Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said “The number of casualties is increasing and the number of deaths is increasing on a daily basis, forcing us to take strict, direct and unprecedented measures.”
The latest epicenter for the outbreak is in Nablus, where there was a 43% increase in new cases over the last week, according to the WHO’s latest situation report. The WHO credited part of the rapid rates of spread in this rush of cases to coronavirus variants that are more easily transmittable, including the B.1.1.7 variant.
As of now the state of emergency is due to stay in place through the first week of April. A lockdown overnight remains in place across the West Bank from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., with the exception of pharmacies and bakeries.
High schools are still open, but every other educational level is heading back to distance learning until the rates of infection drop again.
In Gaza, where lockdown was eased in February, confirmed cases jumped up by 30% over the last week.
Palestinian students go to their school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City on March 8, 2021. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour/APA Images)
Vaccines for some
On Monday Israel began a campaign to vaccinate more than 100,000 Palestinians with work permits to enter Israel, using excess supply of the Moderna vaccine.
Meanwhile, correspondent Yumna Patel reported that in an uncoordinated effort, internationals residing in the West Bank have been able to get vaccinated in the Israeli vaccine program by showing up at the Qalandia checkpoint. Patel reported there are medics dispatched to the checkpoint who administer the arm jabs upon presentation of a foreign passport.
This week Patel interviewed a group of Palestinian-Americans living in the West Bank who sought vaccines under the unofficial program that has been in effect for at least two weeks. However, they were not vaccinated, telling Patel even though they had U.S. passports in tow, their Palestinian ID cards cut them out of vaccine eligibility.
Here’s Patel’s reporting, interviewing Wafaa Jallaq, 26, from Ohio:
“‘I have friends who went and showed their U.S. passports and said that they were there for the vaccination and it didn’t even take them 10 minutes to get the shot and leave,’ Jallaq told Mondoweiss.
So, with that in mind, Jallaq went to the Qalandia checkpoint two weeks later on the 23rd, optimistic that she would be done in no time, and newly vaccinated.
But when she arrived into the area within the checkpoint designated for vaccinations, Jallaq described the scene as ‘very hectic,’ saying ‘there were a lot of people and lots of confusion.’
‘After we got through the second checkpoint, we were told by someone passing by that if you had a Palestinian West Bank ID, you could not get the vaccine.’”
As of the time of publishing this newsletter, 4,900 Palestinian in the West Bank, and 4,746 in Gaza have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, of whom nearly all are healthcare workers.
Shipments of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine sent by United Arab Emirates, at the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2021. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
Additional shipments of vaccines are expected this month. Nearly 38,000 Pfizer vaccines will arrive next week from Gavi Alliance/COVAX, another 40,000 doses of Sputnik V are on their way to Gaza courtesy of a humanitarian donation from the UAE, and the Palestinian Authority has said 100,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm will arrive sometime soon.
Palestinians can also register for the vaccine here: http://vaccine.moh.ps
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