The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel has agreed to a series of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to vaccinate children against polio.
The campaign aims to vaccinate some 640,000 children across the Gaza Strip and will begin on Sunday, said senior WHO official Rik Peeperkorn.
It will be implemented in three separate phases, across the central, southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip. During each phase, fighting will pause for three consecutive days from 06:00 to 15:00 local time.
The deal comes days after United Nations officials said 10 month old baby partially paralyzed after the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years.
Some 1.26 million doses of the new oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) are now available in Gaza, and 400,000 additional doses will be delivered soon.
Vaccinations will be carried out by UN staff and other local health workers. More than 2,000 health and outreach workers have been trained to administer the vaccine.
Louise Wateridge, a UN spokeswoman in Gaza, has called for a ceasefire so that the vaccination programme can take place safely.
“We cannot vaccinate children under bombs and airstrikes, we cannot vaccinate children who are fleeing for their lives,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.
“Any military activity that takes place while we are trying to roll out the vaccination campaign will impact our ability to get vaccines to children,” she explained.
Children will receive two doses of the oral vaccine this week and will need a booster in four weeks, Ms Wateridge said.
WHO aims to achieve a 90% vaccination rate across the Gaza Strip, which is necessary to prevent the spread of the virus in the Gaza Strip.
There has been agreement to extend the fourth vaccination day and pause humanitarian action if necessary to achieve that vaccination level.
Polio virus is highly contagious and is usually spread through sewage and contaminated water.
It can cause disfigurement and paralysis, and is potentially fatal. It mainly affects children under five years of age.
WHO said vaccination rates in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were optimal before the conflict. Polio vaccination coverage is estimated to reach 99% by 2022, although it dropped to 89% last year, according to the latest data.
The Israeli military said in July that it had begun vaccinating soldiers against the disease.
“We are ready to cooperate with international organizations to ensure this operation serves and protects more than 650,000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the three-day ceasefire was “not a ceasefire”.
James Kariuki, Britain’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said he “strongly” welcomed the vaccination plan.
“We need to see this in action now and these pauses need to be long enough to achieve the required 90% coverage. As the campaign begins and thousands of vulnerable and unaccompanied children gather at vaccination sites, they must all be protected,” he added.
Professor Hagai Levine, a spokesman for the Hostage Families Forum – a group calling for more action to secure the release of Israeli hostages – has called on health workers to ensure those still in captivity are included in the vaccination campaign.
Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 by Hamas, which left some 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages taken.
More than 40,530 people have died in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
