'Getting a Jab is Scarier Than the Virus', Says Gaza Resident as Vaccination Rates Remain Low
07:07 GMT 08.08.2021 (Updated: 09:25 GMT 05.12.2023)
© REUTERS / MOHAMMED SALEM
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The Hamas authorities that control the enclave are encouraging people to get vaccinated. They are also offering to receive a shot in the comfort of one's home without the need to reach any medical centres. But if those efforts don't work, there will be penalties, and those will include a ban on entering public places.
Unlike neighbouring Israel, where COVID cases have surged in recent weeks, Gaza has seen no spike in infections.
As of Sunday, the Strip only has more than 1,200 active cases. And out of the total of the 117,120 people who have been sick with the virus, only 1,102 have succumbed to COVID.
That, however, might soon be changing. Health authorities in the Gaza Strip have already warned that the third wave of COVID-19 is just around the corner, but Hamas, who controls the enclave, doesn't have enough vaccines to battle the virus.
Fears Prevail
Since the beginning of the vaccination drive in February, less than five percent of the enclave's two million people have been inoculated. These have mostly been the elderly, medical staff, and public sector employees.
The main reason for this is the inability of the Gaza authorities to secure enough doses. But it is also because many in the Strip are still reluctant to get the jab.
Samira Al-Ghoula, a 54-year-old mother of eight from Gaza City, says she is one of those who refuse to get vaccinated.
"I don't think the vaccine is able to protect us from the virus. Quite the opposite is true. I have already seen several people, who have died after they received the jab and I don’t want to be added to these statistics".
A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at Clalit Health Services, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 23, 2021.
© AFP 2023 / JACK GUEZ
Al-Ghoula says that three of her relatives died after they received the vaccine, and she blames the local authorities for administering the jab without conducting any prior check-ups.
She is also pointing the finger at Hamas for not improving the health system and for not doing enough to boost the abilities of the Strip's medical centres.
For her, getting treatment is a gamble and it is a risk she is not prepared to take. But the authorities have other plans.
Sticks or Carrots?
According to Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, local authorities are currently putting together a strategic plan to push Gazans into vaccination centres.
The ministry is aware of the low numbers of vaccinated people and is familiar with the fears that surround the inoculation. And now Al-Qidra says his department is prepared to fight the phenomenon.
"We [have started to] provide awareness workshops to encourage people to get vaccinated. In addition, our medical staff are ready to inoculate people inside their homes if they are afraid of going to the medical centres".
Palestinian Hamas militants take part in an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City May 22, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
© REUTERS / MOHAMMED SALEM
At the same time, Hamas is planning to introduce punitive measures. The minister says Hamas has already obliged the employees of all its ministries to get the shot. In the upcoming months, following the completion of the advocacy phase, they are also planning to impose sanctions on those who refuse to get inoculated.
One such sanction could be a ban on entering public places, restaurants, and other enclosed areas, but Al-Ghoula says she is doubtful these measures will even be implemented, simply because the Strip doesn't have enough doses for its entire population.
Hamas is currently working to rectify that. China has already announced it will donate half a million of its vaccines produced in Egypt to the enclave.
But Al-Ghoula says she will not be willing to take it, regardless of the situation. "I am not scared of getting the virus. Those, who have died from it, were suffering from dangerous diseases or were in poor health. Getting a vaccine is much scarier".
