Polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza, health officials say
After first case of disease in enclave in 25 years found in 10-month-old boy, Israel agreed to temporary pauses in fighting to allow inoculation of some 640,000 children
A health official said Saturday that a polio vaccination campaign had begun in Gaza after the war-torn territory recorded its first case of the disease in a quarter of a century.
Local health officials along with the United Nations and NGOs “are starting today the polio vaccination campaign in the central region,” Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, told AFP.
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” in specific locations in Gaza to facilitate vaccinations, though officials said beforehand the campaign was expected to start on Sunday.
After beginning in central Gaza, vaccines are set to be administered in southern Gaza and then in northern Gaza.
The campaign, which involves two doses, aims to cover over 640,000 children under age 10.
Michael Ryan, WHO deputy director-general, told the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered in Gaza, with another 400,000 still to arrive.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said earlier this month that tests in Jordan had confirmed polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza, the first case in the enclave in 25 years.
Poliovirus is highly infectious, and most often spread through sewage and contaminated water — an increasingly common problem in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war drags on.
The disease mainly affects children under the age of five. It can cause deformities, paralysis and death.
Bakr Deeb told AFP on Saturday that he brought his three children — all under 10 — to a vaccination point despite some initial doubts about its safety.
“I was hesitant at first and very afraid of the safety of this vaccination,” he said.
“After the assurances of its safety, and with all the families going to the vaccination points, I decided to go with my children as well, to protect them.”
Abed, the health official, stressed on Saturday that the vaccine is “100 percent safe.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
