As polio vaccines arrive in Gaza, the next challenge is their distribution

Polio vaccines arrived in Gaza on Monday, kicking off a massive drive to vaccinate more than 640,000 Palestinian children and head off a potential epidemic, the United Nations, Israel and Gaza health authorities said, after the first confirmed case of the disease in 25 years in the territory.

United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, he said The organization delivered 1.2 million doses of polio vaccine to children in the Gaza Strip in partnership with the World Health Organization, the main UN agency helping the Palestinians, known as UNRWA, and other groups.

Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed Monday that vaccines had arrived in Gaza and that preparations were underway to begin a vaccination campaign for children under 10. It was not immediately clear how quickly the vaccines could be delivered to vaccination centers in Gaza, where ongoing hostilities and bombing have hampered humanitarian efforts in the 10-month war.

The ministry warned that vaccinations alone could not be effective, given the lack of spotless water and personal hygiene products, and problems with sewage and waste collection in overcrowded areas where displaced families have taken refuge. It said medical teams would have to spread across the territory, “requiring an urgent ceasefire.”

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in statement on Thursday that a 10-month-old baby in Gaza had contracted polio and was paralyzed in one leg. The virus was found last month in sewage samples, but it was the first confirmed case in Gaza in a quarter-century.

COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that oversees policy toward the Palestinian territories, said in a statement Monday that the vaccines were delivered to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel. The agency added that the campaign would be conducted in cooperation with the Israeli military “as part of routine humanitarian breaks” it is observing, which it said would allow Palestinians to reach vaccination centers.

In June, Israel announced it would partially halt day-to-day military operations in Gaza. It called them humanitarian pauses and said they were intended to provide greater security for humanitarian organizations delivering aid to the area.

According to UNICEF, at least 95 percent of children will need to receive both doses of the vaccine to prevent the spread of the disease and reduce the risk of its recurrence, “given the severe disruption to health, water and sanitation systems in the Gaza Strip.”

UNICEF and WHO the statement called on “all parties to the conflict” to implement a week-long humanitarian pause in Gaza to allow “children and families to safely reach health facilities” to receive doses. Statement He added that “without humanitarian breaks, the implementation of the campaign will not be possible.”

Philippe Lazzarini, Director of UNRWA he said on Friday that the agency’s medical teams will distribute vaccines in their clinics and through mobile medical teams. He added that “delaying the humanitarian pause will boost the risk of the virus spreading among children.”

Ravana Sheikh Ahmad contributed to the reporting.