Palestinians scramble for COVID-19 vaccines as Israel prepares rollout

A Palestinian policeman guards during a lockdown amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Gaza City December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - As Israel prepares to give COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens, Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza are scrambling to secure their own doses, which health authorities say are still months away.

Palestinian leaders have cast a wide net in their search, contacting international organisations, drugmakers like Moderna and AstraZeneca and states like Russia and China that are producing their own vaccines.