The operation aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in the besieged territory, devastated by 11 months of war. The first phase in the center of the strip has already reached 187,000, according to the World Health Organization.
The first phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has successfully concluded, with the first dose administered to nearly 200,000 children in the central Palestinian territory, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday, September 4.
The disease has spread across the ruined Gaza Strip, where most of the 2.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the face of an Israeli military offensive, many taking shelter in cramped and unsanitary conditions. After the first case of polio was discovered in Gaza in 25 years, a large-scale campaign began Sunday, following the first vaccinations on Saturday, with the help of “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting. The operation aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in the besieged territory, devastated by nearly 11 months of war, and the first phase in the central part of the Strip has already reached 187,000, according to the WHO.
2,200 health professionals mobilized
“We are grateful for the commitment of all families, health professionals and vaccinators who made this phase of the campaign a success despite the poor conditions in the Gaza Strip.”WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. “We ask that humanitarian pauses continue to be respected. We continue to call for a ceasefire.”he added.
The WHO had estimated that it would have to vaccinate nearly 157,000 children under the age of 10 in central Gaza, before acknowledging that it had “probably underestimated the population in this area”. More than 500 teams, comprising a total of nearly 2,200 health and social workers, participated in the operation. Vaccinations were administered at 143 sites. The large-scale campaign has ended in central Gaza, but WHO says vaccinations will continue at four health facilities in the coming days. “to ensure that no child was left behind in the area”The WHO is due to begin another vaccination drive on Thursday, this time in the south of the strip, where it estimates it will vaccinate 340,000 children in four days.
