Polio vaccination campaign to resume in Gaza: UN

United Nations, Nov 2: A third phase of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip is set to resume on Saturday after being postponed over escalating violence.

According to a joint statement from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the humanitarian pause necessary to conduct the campaign has been assured, but the area of the pause has been substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in Gaza in September. It is now limited to just Gaza City.

This means some 15,000 children under the age of 10 in parts of North Gaza, including Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, remain inaccessible and could be missed during the campaign, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children under 10 years old in northern Gaza with a second dose of novel oral polio vaccine type 2. However, achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints,” the statement said.

The vaccines will be delivered by 216 teams across 106 fixed sites, 22 of which have been added to ensure increased availability of vaccination in areas where recently displaced people are seeking refuge.

The third phase of the polio vaccination campaign, scheduled to start on October 23 in the north, had to be put off due to intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses.

Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned last week that Gaza faces the additional threat of polio spreading if the final phase of the vaccination campaign continues to delay.

The third phase of the campaign in northern Gaza follows the successful implementation of the first two phases of the second round in Gaza, which reached nearly 451,200 children, or 96 per cent of the target in these areas, according to the United Nations.