From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 25, 2024
COGAT: 25,100 vials of polio vaccine entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom earlier today
Israel’s civilian coordination agency for the Palestinian territories, COGAT, says that 25,100 vials of the polio vaccine entered the Gaza Strip today via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
The vaccines will be enough to inoculate 1,255,000 people — or just over half of the Strip’s population — the agency says, after the war-torn enclave recorded its first polio case in 25 years.
COGAT says that five trucks carrying equipment for the storage and transportation of the vaccine entered the Strip on Friday via Kerem Shalom, and in coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The vaccines will be given to children who have yet to receive a dose over the coming days in various locations across the Gaza Strip, COGAT says, adding that they will be distributed “as part of the routine humanitarian pauses that will allow the population to reach the medical centers where the vaccinations will be administered.”
According to the agency, approximately 90% of Gaza’s population was inoculated against polio in the first quarter of 2024.
