Campaign has moved to the southern areas of the Gaza Strip after successfully completing the first phase in the heart of the enclave, largely thanks to a pause in fighting.
UNRWA together with partners provided the first dose of polio vaccine to children under 10 years old at the Japanese Medical Center in the devastated city of Khan Younis.
One mother said she rushed to get her child vaccinated “because I was afraid polio would spread because of the sewer system and lack of hygiene, especially when there were no cleaning products”.
Leading humanitarians join
The United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, was present at the Japanese clinic and participated in vaccinating some children as a symbolic act to highlight the importance of the campaign.
“You see people proud to be here, to protect their children, to get vaccinated. And ultimately, it shows that when there is political will, a lot can happen on the humanitarian front. That’s what we need. This is a great example of that,” she said.
Over the next four days, health workers will target some 340,000 children in southern Gaza. Some 517 teams will be deployed, including 384 mobile teams, according to World Health Organization (WHO).
The third and final phase will be implemented in northern Gaza from September 9 to 11, targeting some 150,000 boys and girls.
An emergency response
The comprehensive campaign aims to deliver two drops of the new oral polio vaccine type 2 to more than 640,000 children under 10 years of age in each vaccination round.
This is part of an emergency response to prevent the spread of polio, which has re-emerged in Gaza 25 years after the detection of a circulating variant of polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) in six environmental samples collected from the central Gaza Strip in June.
The campaign is being carried out by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO, UNRWA, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other humanitarian partners.
Humanitarian pause respected
During the first phase, from September 1 to 3, health workers reached more than 187,000 young people in central Gaza, exceeding the initial estimated target of 157,000.
Vaccination activities will continue over the next few days at four major health facilities to ensure that no child in the area is left behind.
“It is encouraging to see thousands of children being able to access the polio vaccine.with the support of resilient families and brave medical staff, despite the terrible conditions they have endured over the past 11 months.
“All parties have respected the humanitarian pause and we hope this positive momentum will continue.Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said.
Reach families where they are
The first phase of the campaign was carried out by 513 teams, including more than 2,180 health and outreach workers.
Vaccinations were carried out at 143 fixed locations, including hospitals, health facilities, primary health care centers, refugee camps where displaced people live, important public gathering spaces such as temporary learning spaces, food and water distribution points, as well as transit routes from the center to the north and south of Gaza.
Mobile teams also visit camps and hard-to-reach areas to reach families who cannot get to fixed locations.
The presence of large numbers of children eligible for vaccination but unable to reach vaccination sites due to insecurity required special missions to three areas – Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Al-Mussader – just outside the agreed humanitarian pause area, WHO said.
