The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first phase of its polio vaccination campaign in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, which will continue until Wednesday, September 3, with eight-hour humanitarian breaks agreed between Israel and Hamas.
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The other two phases will take place from September 5 to 8 to vaccinate children in the south of the enclave; and from September 9 to 11 the campaign will end in the north of the Strip with the possibility of extending it for one more day in areas that could not be covered.
The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated yesterday in a statement The UN expressed its willingness to cooperate in this campaign to prevent an outbreak of polio in the Strip, but recalled that these humanitarian pauses do not represent a general ceasefire.
Internally displaced Palestinian children before receiving polio vaccination at a United Nations school.
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“Reports of a general ceasefire for this campaign are false. Israel will only allow a humanitarian corridor through which vaccination personnel can pass; designated safe areas will also be established for the administration of the vaccines,” the statement said.
The commissioner of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, published this Sunday on his X account the testimony of A Palestinian mother was relieved after her baby received two drops of vaccine at an agency clinic.
For this to work, the warring parties must respect temporary pauses in the areas. For the sake of children throughout the region, a lasting ceasefire is necessary.
“For this to work, the warring parties must respect temporary pauses in the areas. For the sake of children throughout the region, a lasting ceasefire is necessary,” Lazzarini said.
Ramiro García Cantugal, the clinical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Gaza, warned that if humanitarian pauses are not respected “there will be a risk of a terrible catastrophe” because the vaccination points are full of Gazan children.
A nurse holds a vial containing a vaccine at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.
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“Once these humanitarian pauses to allow children to access health centres are ove
r, we will return to a context of war in which there are bombings every day,” García lamented.
1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine (two drops in this first phase of immunization) have arrived in Gaza, as well as equipment to ensure the cold chain, with the aim of immunizing 640,000 children under the age of ten and achieving 90% coverage to stop the current polio outbreak.
The first case in 25 years
On August 16, the Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of polio in an unvaccinated ten-month-old baby – the first case in the Strip in 25 years – whose life is now in danger after his body became paralyzed.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects young children and attacks the nervous system.. It can cause paralysis and, in some cases, death.
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