Gaza : U.N. launches polio vaccination campaign amid temporary pause of attacks
The World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began the polio vaccination campaign on Sunday, targeting 640,000 children, with a particular focus on those under 10 years old.
Majdi Duhair, head of the technical committee overseeing the vaccination effort, stated that the campaign will first focus on central Gaza from Sept. 1 to 4, followed by Khan Younis from Sept. 5 to 9, and will conclude in Gaza City and the northern regions from Sept. 9 to 12.
Accordingly, the Zionist attacks are supposed to pause for at least eight hours on three consecutive days. Nevertheless, the WHO noted that the pause will likely need to extend to a fourth day and the first round of vaccinations will take just under two weeks.
The WHO officials stated that at least 90% of children need to receive two vaccine doses, spaced four weeks apart. However, the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza—marked by critical shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies due to the ongoing Zionist occupation attacks—poses a significant challenge to the success of the vaccination campaign.
The urgency of the campaign was underscored by the confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in a 10-month-old child last month. On August 16, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire to allow the vaccination of 640,000 children, a request that was supported by UNRWA.
Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, described the campaign as “one of the most complex in the world.”
In the backdrop, the Gaza health ministry reported at least 40,691 Palestinian martyrs and 94,060 injuries across the Strip since October 7.
