More than five months since the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 jabs in the Gaza Strip, the vaccine rollout in the besieged coastal enclave has been met with general distrust and, in many cases, outright refusal.According to data from Gaza’s health ministry, some 98,000 people – or just less than five percent of the two million population – have so far received a shot.Some 336,300 vaccine doses have also been donated from various countries, including Russia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as through the global COVAX programme.
So there are at least 140,000 doses in Gaza that are sitting, unused, if all the people who are inoculated received two doses.
For months we were reading articles and op-eds about how terrible it was that Israel wasn't providing vaccines to Gaza - and yet Gazans never wanted the vaccine to begin with.
The article goes on to blame Israel, of course, claiming that Gaza's medical establishment is crippled because of the "siege" (Israel doesn't block medical supplies, but the PA does) or from facilities that were damaged during the war because Hamas placed military equipment nearby. None of that has to do with the fact that Gazans don't want the vaccine, and the ICRC is working to educated Gazans that the shots aren't harmful.
So what happened to all those people who were oh-so-concerned over the lives of Gazans at risk for getting COVID?
They aren't saying a word.
They aren't volunteering to make catchy graphics for Palestinians in Gaza to learn the facts about the effectiveness of the vaccines. They aren't donating money to help the education campaign.
Similarly, the world media has lost interest in the issue of vaccines in Gaza.
They all prove, every day, that their supposed interest in the wellbeing of Palestinians is just a mask for their hate for Jews in Israel.
