Currently, approximately 400,000 people are under siege and constant shelling in the northern part of the strip. Shelling and bombing delay polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza Peace and Security
Intense bombing, massive displacement and lack of access to northern Gaza have forced UN agencies to postpone a polio vaccination campaign in the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
“Successful vaccination requires pauses in hostilities to allow supplies to reach health facilities, families to travel safely to vaccination sites and mobile health teams to vaccinate children,” the WHO said in a statement ahead of World Polio Day, which is marked annually on October 24.
United Nations agencies – WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – have been forced to postpone the third and final phase of the campaign, which was due to start today. During this phase, health workers were set to vaccinate 119,279 children in northern Gaza.
Under siege and shelling
About 400,000 people are currently under siege and constant shelling in the northern Strip. On Tuesday, UNRWA, WHO and other UN agencies called on the Israeli authorities to provide immediate access to deliver vital humanitarian aid to that part of Gaza.
The World Health Organization said the current situation, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, threatens the safety and movement of people in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely accompany their children for vaccinations and for health workers to carry out their humanitarian mission.
The second phase of the campaign
All logistical resources and professional staff are now ready to vaccinate children in the north of the Strip with a second dose of the new oral polio vaccine, WHO officials said. The first round of the campaign was conducted in Gaza from 1 to 12 September. Since then, the area where temporary humanitarian pauses are currently permitted has been significantly reduced to just Gaza City, a significant reduction from the first round.
The Return of Polio
Earlier this year, a quarter of a century after the polio was eradicated in the Gaza Strip, the UN dangerous disease, Gaza has recorded its first case of polio, one of the consequences of a year-long war and siege. This is what prompted WHO and its partners to launch a vaccination campaign in the enclave.
At least 90 percent of all children in every community and district must be vaccinated to interrupt poliovirus transmission and its spread. Polio causes paralysis and other severe symptoms and can spread very quickly. Delaying the second dose of vaccine for six weeks reduces the effectiveness of the shots, as immunity is weakened.
If a significant number of children miss the second dose of vaccine, it will seriously undermine efforts to stop transmission of the virus, the WHO stressed, adding that it could also lead to new cases not only in the Gaza Strip but also in neighboring countries.