The Palestinians are to receive the first batch of 50,000 coronavirus vaccines by mid-February, when they will launch inoculations in the West Bank and Gaza, their prime minister has said.

Speaking ahead of a Palestinian Authority weekly cabinet meeting, Mohammed Shtayyeh said the procurement had been secured through various sources, including the UN-backed Covax programme, set up to provide vaccines to less wealthy states.

“Vaccination will start in the middle of this month,” Shtayyeh said, according to AFP.

The prime minister said the vaccines would be allocated to the 2.8 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the two million people in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.