More than 200 vaccinated in Syria's Al Hol camp

Camp houses about 62,000 people, including tens of thousands of family members of foreign ISIS fighters

Women talk to a child next to produce at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected ISIS fighters, in Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, on June 23, 2021. AFP 

More than 200 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in north-east Syria's densely populated Al Hol camp for the displaced and families of defeated militants, a government official said Thursday.

The vaccination drive, using AstraZeneca inoculations under the Covax programme for low-income countries, covers government-held areas and territory run by a Kurdish local administration.

Syrian Health Ministry teams inoculated 205 people up to Wednesday in Al Hol camp of Hassakeh province, the ministry's provincial chief Issa Al Khalaf told AFP.

The camp houses about 62,000 people, mainly women and children, including tens of thousands of family members of foreign ISIS fighters.

Medical sources inside the camp say foreign wives of suspected fighters were being excluded from the vaccination drive, a charge denied by Mr Al Khalaf.

Syria's Health Ministry in April received a first consignment of 203,000 doses of AstraZeneca through Covax, the World Health Organisation said.

Almost 7,000 people have been inoculated in the Kurdish-held areas, in a campaign launched a month ago, local health chief Jawan Moustafa said.

The areas under Kurdish control, where medical shortages are rife, have recorded over 18,000 cases of coronavirus, including 761 deaths.