Israel Polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip completed
According to Israel and the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, the mass vaccination against polio in the Gaza Strip has been completed after a good two months. A total of around 1.1 million vaccine doses have been administered in the embattled coastal strip, according to the Israeli military authority for Palestinian affairs, Cogat. This means that 556,774 children have received two doses of vaccine each, emphasized Unicef. The first round of vaccinations began on September 1, with the necessary second dose being administered from mid-October. Cogat announced that the vaccination rate of more than 90 percent of children required for effective protection against the spread of the virus had thus been achieved.
However, Unicef pointed out that this was an average figure. In the northern Gaza Strip, where the vaccination campaign has been hampered by heavy fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist Hamas, the vaccination rate is only around 88 percent. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 children in inaccessible areas such as Jabaliya, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanun are still not vaccinated and are therefore susceptible to the polio virus. This also increases the risk of the poliovirus spreading further in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.
The vaccinations were carried out by local health authorities, Unicef and the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Cogat emphasized that it had provided logistical support together with the Israeli army. Israel and the UN organizers agreed on short localized humanitarian ceasefires for vaccinations in the various parts of the Gaza Strip.
The aim of the vaccination campaign is to prevent the virus from spreading. Polio, also known as infantile paralysis, can cause lifelong paralysis. In August, the first case of polio in 25 years was discovered in the Palestinian region. The virus spreads when unsanitary conditions prevail. Hundreds of thousands of people have been constantly on the run there since the start of Israeli military operations last fall. This was Israel's response to the devastating terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.
