The Palestinians said Monday that they expect to receive their first coronavirus vaccine doses next month, covering 20 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza, through a UN-backed programme.

"We have received an official letter from the World Health Organization which says the delivery of vaccines will begin next month to cover 20 percent of the population," a Palestinian Health Ministry official, Yasser Bouzia, told AFP.

Bouzia, director of public health for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, said the vaccines would be delivered through COVAX, a programme coordinated by GAVI, the Geneva-based vaccine alliance.

COVAX -- supported by WHO, the European Commission and other bodies -- aims to help the world's poorest nations address the pandemic.

According to Bouzia, the cost of administering vaccinations for the first 20 percent of the Palestinian population will be covered by WHO.

COVAX will vaccinate in the West Bank, home to some 2.8 million Palestinians, and Israeli-blockaded Gaza, where around two million Palestinians live.

The remainder of the Palestinian population will be vaccinated with support from the PA's budget and donors, Bouzia said, without providing a timeline.

The Palestinian Authority has not said publicly whether it has asked Israel for help with coronavirus vaccinations.

The Jewish state, which began an aggressive vaccination campaign last month, has given the first of two required jabs of the Pfizer vaccine to more than a million people.

Some human rights groups have called on Israel to supply the occupied Palestinian Territories and Gaza with vaccine doses immediately.

The PA has said it has made contact with potential vaccine suppliers, but the health ministry said last month it would struggle to store the Pfizer vaccine in the requisite sub-zero conditions.

On Monday, Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged Palestinians to abide by protective measures like mask-wearing while waiting for vaccines to arrive.

An evening curfew remains in force across the West Bank and Gaza, in order to forestall the spread of the virus.

The PA has recorded nearly 100,000 coronavirus cases in the West Bank, with more than 1,000 deaths.

In Gaza, run by Islamist group Hamas, nearly 43,000 cases have been registered, with nearly 400 deaths.

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