Polio vaccine campaign officially begins in war-hit Gaza

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, the Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in the Hamas-governed enclave and in the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel’s military offensives.

A small number of children in Gaza began receiving doses a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organisation.

The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin on Sunday.

“There must be a cease-fire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr Yousef Abu Al Rish, Gaza’s deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps.

Journalists saw about 10 children receiving doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

“I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose.

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, on Saturday. AFP

Michael Ryan, WHO deputy director-general, told the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered in Gaza, with another 400,000 still to arrive.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines with the aim of reaching some 640,000 Palestinian children.

Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

The three-day vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month.

Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralysed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

A nurse administers polio vaccine drops to a young Palestinian patient at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. AFP

Healthcare workers in Gaza have warned of the potential for a polio outbreak for months.

The territory’s humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Agencies