Gaza: 160,000 Palestinian Children Receive First Dose of Polio Vaccine
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced today, Tuesday, that approximately 160,000 Palestinian children have received their first dose of the polio vaccine in Gaza’s Central Governorate over the past two days.
According to reports from the Palestinian news agency “WAFA,” health teams are collaborating with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to vaccinate children at both fixed and mobile centers operated by the ministry and international agencies. This effort has seen a strong turnout from parents eager to protect their children.
Thousands of Palestinians have gathered at designated centers in the Central Governorate to vaccinate their children under the age of ten against polio.
The ministry noted that the vaccination campaign will continue in the Central Governorate until tomorrow, Wednesday, and will begin on Thursday morning in Khan Younis and its surrounding areas, lasting four days. In the Gaza and northern governorates, the vaccination process is scheduled to commence on September 9th for a duration of four days.
On August 16th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian ceasefire to facilitate a vaccination campaign targeting 640,000 children, which was directly supported by UNRWA at that time.
This call followed the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s report of the first confirmed case of the polio virus in Gaza, involving a 10-month-old child.
For months, health and human rights organizations have warned of the potential spread of diseases and epidemics in the region due to shortages of medicines and vaccinations, compounded by the dire health and living conditions faced by displaced individuals.
Since October 7, 2023, Zionist forces have launched a devastating war on Gaza, resulting in over 40,000 fatalities and more than 94,000 injuries, leading to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster that has displaced more than 85% of the population—approximately 1.9 million people.
