Israel has agreed to a series of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow for the vaccination of children against polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
Senior WHO official Rik Peeperkorn said, the campaign will reportedly aim to vaccinate around 640,000 children across the Gaza strip and will commence on Sunday.
It will be carried out in three separate stages, across the central, northern and southern parts of the strip. During each stage, fighting will be halted for three consecutive days between 06:00 and 15:00 local time.
This agreement came ahead of the UN Officials reportedly said a 10 month old baby had been partially paralyzed after contracting Gaza’s first case of polio for 25 years.
Around 1.26m doses of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) are already in Gaza, with 400,000 additional doses set to arrive soon.
How will this Vaccination Carried Out?
UN staff and local health workers are set to lead a vaccination campaign in Gaza, with over 2,000 trained health and community outreach personnel ready to administer the vaccine.
UN spokeswoman Louise Wateridge has urged for a ceasefire to ensure the safety of the program, emphasizing the need for a secure environment to carry out the vaccinations.
“We cannot vaccinate children under a sky full of bombs and strikes, we cannot vaccinate children who are fleeing for their lives,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.
“Any military operations during the time we are trying to roll out a vaccination campaign will affect our ability to deliver these vaccinations to children,” she explained.
Ms. Wateridge announced that children will receive two oral doses of the vaccine this week, with a follow-up vaccination required in four weeks.
The WHO aims to achieve 90% vaccine coverage across Gaza, a crucial target to halt the spread of the virus within the region.
An agreement has been made to extend the vaccination and humanitarian pause for an additional fourth day if necessary to reach the required coverage level. Poliovirus, known for its high infectiousness, typically spreads through sewage and contaminated water, and can lead to severe consequences, including disfigurement, paralysis, and even death, particularly in children under five.
Before the conflict, immunization rates in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were considered optimal, with polio vaccine coverage at 99% in 2022, though it dropped to 89% last year, according to the most recent data.
In July, the Israeli military reported that it had begun vaccinating its soldiers against the disease. Meanwhile, Hamas official Basem Naim expressed willingness to cooperate with international organizations to safeguard the vaccination campaign, which aims to protect over 650,000 Palestinian children in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that the series of three-day pauses should not be mistaken for a ceasefire. UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, James Kariuki, welcomed the vaccination initiative, stressing the importance of ensuring the pauses are sufficient to achieve the necessary 90% coverage. He highlighted the need to protect vulnerable and unaccompanied children as they gather at vaccination sites.
Prof. Hagai Levine, representing the Hostages Families Forum, urged health workers to include those still held hostage in the vaccination efforts.
The military campaign in Gaza, launched by Israel in response to the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, has resulted in the deaths of over 40,530 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
