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WHO Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, said that the two-round vaccination campaign is due to begin this Sunday in central Gaza for three days, then move to the southern and northern areas. A second dose will be administered after four weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring each round of the campaign, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the WHO, [the UN Children\u2019s Fund] UNICEF, UNRWA [the UN agency for Palestine refugees] and partners, will provide two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to more than 640,000 children under 10 years of age<\/strong>,\u201d Dr. Peeperkorn said.<\/p>\n The campaign is all set after the delivery of 1.26 million doses of vaccines to Gaza and 500 vaccine carriers. According to the UN health agency, 400,000 additional vaccine doses will arrive in Gaza soon.<\/p>\n Speaking from Gaza, Dr. Peeperkorn welcomed a preliminary commitment with the Israeli military to \u201carea-specific humanitarian pauses<\/strong>\u201d during the vaccination campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on all parties to pause fighting to allow children and families to safely access health facilities<\/strong> and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Without humanitarian pauses, the campaign \u2013 a massive task in any setting, let alone after more than 10 months of heavy fighting, mass casualties and displacement – will not be possible, warned the WHO.<\/p>\n The campaign will be rolled out in phases of three days each, starting with central Gaza, followed by southern and finally northern Gaza.<\/p>\n Vaccinations will be extended by one day wherever necessary to account for upticks in violence, destroyed roads and infrastructure damage – all additional hurdles that could hamper the objective of achieving sufficient vaccine coverage within three days in each area.<\/p>\n At least 90 per cent vaccination coverage during each round of the campaign is needed to stop the outbreak and prevent international spread of the sometimes-deadly waterborne disease, which can cause lifelong paralysis.<\/p>\n The UN health agency will coordinate with all parties, including the Israeli humanitarian coordination unit, COGAT, to ensure safe access to health facilities for children and families.<\/p>\n \u201cSecurity is paramount\u201d for more than 2,180 health workers and community outreach workers<\/strong> ready to support the campaign, insisted Dr. Peeperkorn.<\/p>\n Vaccines will be delivered to 392 locations and complemented by some 300 mobile teams \u2013 a \u201cnot ideal\u201d arrangement – but one that has been agreed \u201cwith all the parties, he continued. \u201cWe will do our best to reach 90 per cent coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the WHO, routine immunization has been \u201cvery well received\u201d in Gaza and the West Bank historically, with parents eager to bring their children for vaccination. Coverage has been as high as 95 per cent in past years, higher than in many countries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Amid a fourth day of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, humanitarians voiced concerns about the safety of civilians and aid teams.<\/p>\nDoses ready to go<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Obstacles to overcome<\/strong><\/h2>\n
West Bank operation continues<\/strong><\/h2>\n