National Telescope national telescope newspaper
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday that over 161,000 children have received their first dose of the polio vaccine in central Gaza. This marks the beginning of a mass vaccination campaign led by the UN in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
“The number of children vaccinated in central Gaza during the first two days of the campaign, which began on Sunday, has exceeded our expectations,” the WHO stated. “We initially aimed to reach 156,000 children, but we found more children than anticipated due to the ongoing displacement caused by the fighting.”
Health experts are concerned about the potential for a polio outbreak as hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and are living in crowded conditions. “It is too dangerous for some families to reach vaccination centers,” the UN reported, adding that mobile vaccination teams are also facing difficulties reaching these families due to the ongoing violence.
Following the efforts in central Gaza, vaccination teams will aim to inoculate approximately 340,000 children under the age of 10 against type 2 polio in southern Gaza. To ensure effectiveness, all children will require a second dose in four weeks.
“We need to reach more than 90 percent of children in Gaza to prevent an outbreak,” the WHO emphasised.
