1. Home
  2. Middle East and North Africa
  3. Israel

Israel transfers 5,000 H1N1 vaccinations to Gaza

Vaccine Ciao-Chow/Flickr
Israel’s Civil Administration announced on 5 November that it had transferred 5,000 pandemic H1N1 vaccinations to Gaza for Hajj pilgrims leaving to Saudi Arabia via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

''Swine flu is a worldwide problem, it does not stop at borders. An outbreak of swine flu will endanger the Palestinian population and also endanger the state of Israel,” said Colonel Moshe Levi, commander of the Gaza District Coordination Office. He added that the International Committee of the Red Cross had donated the vaccines and arranged for their transfer to Gaza.

Israel allowed 20,000 doses of the vaccine into Ramallah in the West Bank for the same purpose.

Israel has received 300,000 vaccinations for pandemic H1N1 so far and began mass vaccinations of Israelis in high-risk groups on 5 November. Some 35 Israelis and one Palestinian have died from H1N1.

td/ed

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join