Categories: Health

Gaza polio vaccine: What is polio and how will children be immunised?


The aim is to vaccinate some 640,000 children under the age of 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The roll-out will start in central Gaza on Sunday, with three consecutive daily pauses in fighting between 6am and 3pm local time.

It will then move to southern Gaza, where there will be another three-day pause, followed by northern Gaza.

According to UN officials, children who get the vaccine will need a second dose in late September.

Healthcare workers aim to achieve 95% vaccine coverage across the strip, the level needed to stop transmission of the virus within Gaza.

If this is not achieved there is an agreement for an additional humanitarian pause to allow a fourth day of vaccination.

About 1.3m doses of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) are already in Gaza, with 400,000 extra doses set to arrive soon.

Vaccinations will be carried out by UN staff and other local health workers. More than 2,000 health and community outreach workers have been trained to give the vaccine.

Vaccines will be available in hospitals, field hospitals and primary health centres.

According to the WHO, safe transport and refrigeration of the vaccines are crucial to the plan.



Source link

gulftimes

Recent Posts

Arab News | Russian strikes across Ukraine kill 3 people as Kyiv struggles to counter escalating attacks

KYIV: Russian strikes killed three people and wounded at least eight across Ukraine, officials said…

23 minutes ago

Arab News | London court quashes rate-rigging conviction of ex-Deutsche Bank trader Bittar

LONDON: Christian Bittar, a former star Deutsche Bank trader jailed in Britain for conspiring to…

47 minutes ago

Report highlights flaws in ADHD and autism care

There is a risk of people being over-diagnosed with ADHD and autism, an official review…

48 minutes ago

Arab News | Talks with Iran can only succeed without threats, president says

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: Peace negotiations with Iran would only succeed without “pressure and threats,” Iranian President…

48 minutes ago

Arab News | 2 workers seriously injured in an explosion at oil refinery near Athens, officials say

ATHENS: Two workers were seriously injured in an explosion at a major oil refinery outside…

1 hour ago

Arab News | Arab Views: A Gulf divided? GCC Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi offers his view

Seven months after the start of Operation Epic Fury and the Iranian attacks that followed,…

2 hours ago