The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that its polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza has exceeded expectations, with more than 161,000 children under the age of 10 receiving vaccines in the first two days. This number surpasses the initial target of 156,500 children.
The successful immunization campaign took place on Sunday and Monday, following a series of localized pauses in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. These temporary ceasefires were agreed upon to allow health workers to administer the vaccines safely.
The vaccination drive was launched in response to Gaza’s first confirmed case of polio in 25 years, which left a 10-month-old child partially paralyzed last month.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories commended the effort, emphasizing the importance of the campaign in preventing further cases of polio in the region.
“We need to cover a minimum of 90% of those children to stop the transmission within Gaza and to avoid polio spread, international spread of polio to surrounding countries,” Dr Peeperkorn said.
The pauses are taking effect between 06:00 and 15:00 local time in three separate stages across central, southern and northern parts of Gaza.
The first three-day stage began in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates on Sunday. It will shift to the south governorate of Rafah on Thursday and then move to North Gaza and Gaza City.