Children in Gaza given polio vaccines amid deepening health crisis
A mass vaccination campaign has kicked off in the Gaza Strip to inoculate children against polio and prevent the spread of the deadly virus, amid Israel’s devastating war that has destroyed the territory’s healthcare system.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Saturday that the campaign began at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, ahead of the official start of a much-anticipated United Nations-led campaign on Sunday.
An unspecified number of children received the first dose of the vaccination at the hospital, which involves two doses and is administered orally.
After beginning in central Gaza, vaccines are set to be administered in southern Gaza and then in northern Gaza, according to health officials. The campaign aims to cover more than 640,000 children under 10 years old.
Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s deputy director-general, told the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered in Gaza, with another 400,000 still to arrive.
The vaccinations are set to be carried out over three 3-day periods, spanning September 1 to September 12.
The UN health agency called for the campaign after a 10-month-old Palestinian infant was paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus.
Palestinian health officials however say that a “real ceasefire” is needed for the UN-led polio vaccination drive to be fully successful in the besieged coastal enclave.
They warned on Friday that the virus, which is highly contagious and can cause paralysis and death, would continue to spread unless there are “radical solutions” to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, including an end to Israel’s campaign of death and destruction.
In the meantime, the health ministry said hospitals had received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who were killed in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded.
Israel's military forces have killed at least 40,700 Palestinians since October 7, according to health officials.
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