<p>IDLIB, Syria — Syria’s last rebel-held enclave received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 of United Nations-secured jabs in the overcrowded province. </p>
<p>The AstraZeneca vaccines were delivered to Idlib province through a border crossing with Turkey, the northwestern territory’s only gateway to the outside world. Idlib health official Yasser Najib said jabs were provided through the UN-led COVAX program for the world’s poorest nations. </p>
<p>More vaccines were expected to arrive in government-controlled Damascus in the coming hours. </p>
<p>Given Syria’s ongoing conflict, vaccine delivery is divided— the majority going through Damascus for government-held areas while the rest goes through the border with Turkey. The UN will go through Damascus to deliver over 200,000 jabs to cover government-held areas and Kurdish-dominated territory in the northeast. </p>
<p>The Idlib region, home to 4 million people, is seeing a new rise in infection rates. The area is home to over 2 million displaced persons who live in tent camps and temporary housing. While fighting has largely subsided, occasional military operations still violate a cease-fire that has been in place since March 2020.</p>
<p>After nearly recording no cases in the past month, infection has been on the rise in northwestern Syria portending a new surge, said Naser alMuhawish, who works in the labs monitoring cases in the area. Over 21,000 infection cases and over 640 deaths have been recorded in northwestern Syria.</p>
<p>In government areas, more than 21,000 infection cases and over 1,400 deaths have been recorded.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization had said the vaccination campaign in war-torn Syria was expected to start in April, and aims to inoculate 20% of the population by the end of 2021. </p>
<p>Najib, the Idlib health official, said the inoculation in northwestern Syria will begin early in May and use the 53,800 jabs to administer a first dose to doctors, nurses and frontline aid workers. It is unclear when the next batch would be delivered. The vaccines are stored in a warehouse in a border town.</p>
