WHO: Polio Vaccine Campaign Launched in Gaza

A polio vaccination initiative commenced on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has declared "humanitarian pauses" to facilitate extensive immunization efforts, as reported by a health official to AFP.

This initiative was launched following the confirmation of Gaza's first polio case in 25 years last month.

The campaign officially started at three health centers in central Gaza, a day after an unspecified number of children received vaccinations in the southern region of the Gaza Strip.

Children ranging from newborns to 10 years old visited the centers to receive their doses while drones were observed flying overhead, according to Yasser Shaabane, the medical director of Al-Awda hospital in central Gaza.

Shaabane expressed hope for a peaceful vaccination campaign despite the numerous drones in the area.

The campaign commenced at 9:00 am (0600 GMT), he noted.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that Israel had consented to a series of three-day "humanitarian pauses" across northern, southern, and central regions to support the vaccination efforts.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that these pauses do not equate to a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The objective of the campaign is to vaccinate over 640,000 children in the besieged Palestinian territory, which has suffered nearly 11 months of warfare.

Additionally, the initiative aims to provide the first dose—two drops—to at least 90 percent of the children in the region.

Polio, which had been eliminated in Gaza for 25 years, resurfaced amid the ongoing Israeli conflict.

The WHO has already sent 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine to Gaza.

The Palestinian health ministry has designated 67 vaccination centers—primarily hospitals, smaller health facilities, and schools—in central Gaza, 59 in southern Gaza, and 33 in northern Gaza to administer the vaccines.

The second dose of the vaccine is scheduled to be administered four weeks after the initial dose.