A massive polio vaccination campaign was launched in Gaza on Saturday, aimed at immunizing around 600,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10, according to the Anadolu Agency.
The campaign is being carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
In a statement, UNRWA Chairman Philip Lazarini said “another major vaccination campaign against polio began on Saturday.”
“Like our previous rounds and partners, we aim to reach nearly 600,000 children under the age of 10 across the Gaza Strip,” Lazarini said.
He said, “Over 1,700 UNRWA team members will be participating in this campaign across our health center and mobile points.”
The ministry announced the launch of the campaign earlier this week, citing concerns over the revival of polio after traces of the virus were discovered in the sewage system.
The vaccination drive will last for three days and could be extended for another two days if necessary.
In August 2024, Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed the first polio incident on the territory of a 10-month-old child.
The finding prompted the first vaccination campaign amid the Israeli war on Gaza, which took place in two stages from September.
According to the first phase, Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, it was completed on September 12th and vaccinated 560,000 Palestinian children. The second phase ended on November 7th, with 556,774 children under the age of 10 vaccinated across the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations says children in Gaza need two oral polio vaccines for proper protection.
The polio outbreak is one of many health crises attributed to Israeli military attacks on Gaza, which lasted more than 15 months before the ceasefire took effect on January 19th.