Gaza polio vaccination drive to restart in north of territory

A humanitarian pause in the fighting has been agreed upon to allow vaccinations to restart in Gaza City, the WHO said.

About 15,000 children under 10 years old in towns across north Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, “still remain inaccessible” and will be missed by the vaccination campaign, compromising its effectiveness, the agency said.

The WHO had aimed to give 119,000 children in the area a second dose of the oral polio vaccine.

The agency added that achieving this target “is now unlikely due to access constraints”.

The first round of the vaccine campaign successfully reached 559,000 children under 10 years old over three phases in south, central and north Gaza between 1 and 12 September, during which there were local “humanitarian pauses” agreed by Israel and Palestinian groups.

However, the area agreed in the latest humanitarian pause “has been substantially reduced” compared to the first round of vaccinations and is now limited to just Gaza City, according to the WHO.

From the start of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, medical experts stressed that delays in administering the second dose could jeopardise overall efforts to halt transmission of the contagious, potentially deadly disease.

To interrupt transmission, at least 90% of all children need to be given a minimum of two doses.

The UN human rights chief said last week that the Gaza war’s “darkest moment” is unfolding in the north of the territory, where Israel said it has been carrying out a ground offensive to stop Hamas fighters from regrouping since early October.

At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from north Gaza towards Gaza City for safety, the WHO said.

The joint statement from UN agencies, including the WHO, released on Friday, said the situation was “apocalyptic”, with the entire Palestinian population in the area “at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.