90% of Gaza's Children Receive First Dose of Polio Vaccine

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, stated that 90% of children in the Gaza Strip have received the first dose of the polio vaccine. He expressed hope that these children, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, would be able to receive the second dose by the end of September. Nearly a year into ongoing war and conflict in the Gaza Strip, the vaccination campaign for about 640,000 children under 10 years old has posed serious challenges for UNRWA and its partner organizations. The vaccination campaign was initiated after the World Health Organization confirmed that an infant had been nearly paralyzed due to the type 2 poliovirus, which had been eradicated in Palestinian territories for 25 years. In early September, over 446,000 children in southern and central Gaza were vaccinated, and starting from September 10, vaccination of another 200,000 children in northern Gaza began despite access restrictions, fuel shortages, and other war-related issues. Mr. Lazzarini noted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that all parties involved in the conflict largely adhered to the necessary 'humanitarian pauses' for vaccination, indicating that when there is political will, operations can proceed without issues.