GENEVA, Switzerland: The World Health Organization has announced that the initial phase of a large-scale polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has been completed successfully, providing nearly 200,000 children in the centre of the Palestinian territory with their first dose.
With Gaza lying in ruins and the majority of its 2.4 million residents displaced due to Israel’s military assault — often taking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions — disease has spread. After the first confirmed polio case in 25 years, a massive vaccination effort began on Sunday.
The goal of the campaign is to vaccinate over 640,000 children in the besieged region, which has been ravaged by nearly 11 months of conflict. From September 1 to 3, during the campaign’s first phase, more than 187,000 children under 10 were vaccinated in central Gaza, according to the WHO.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed gratitude for the efforts of families, health workers, and vaccinators who contributed to the success of this phase despite the challenging conditions in Gaza. He urged for continued respect for humanitarian pauses and reiterated the call for a ceasefire.
The WHO had initially estimated the need for vaccines for around 157,000 children under 10 in central Gaza, but this number proved to be an underestimate due to population movements and expanded coverage in areas beyond the humanitarian pause zone.
